Violets Are Blue
by BenzieBox
Summary: Metty, a student in college, has been working for Dr. Banner as his lab assistant. Both are unsure of their relationship with the other until her abduction brings everything into perspective for him. Starts out pretty fluffy but hoping to get into some action-y scenes. Mostly Banner/OC but the other Avengers will make their way into the story as well.
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Note: This is my first ever fan-fic that I've ever published! I'm usually the kind of person to keep these things to myself because I'm afraid of what people will think. I'm enjoying this story too much to keep to myself, though, and I feel like this is the best place to publish it.**

Metis struggled to get the door to the Avengers tower open as she balanced a coffee and a bag with a bagel inside on top of her school books. All while trying to stand up right with her heavy book bag slung over her shoulders haphazardly. The rain pouring down on her kept reminding her that keeping her umbrella in the back of the closet was a bad idea.

She had been working here for three years under Dr. Banner but opening the door every morning was still an ordeal. Though she hated starting her mornings like this she let it roll off her shoulders because the knowledge she gained by working next to him was priceless. She was a full-time student in her junior year of college majoring in chemical engineering and minoring with a math degree. She didn't like to toot her own horn but lets just say she could hold her own in a conversation with Stark and Banner.

Finally making it into the lobby she passed a few workers who were on cellphones or who were sharing memos with others. She just smiled and mustered a "Good morning!" in as cheerful of a voice as she could managed feeling embarrassed for dripping water on the carpet. Adjusting the books in her hands she walked to the elevator and pressed the button to summon the lift. Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America to the city-goers (or cap-sicle to Tony Stark) walked up next to her.

"Can I get some of those for you?" he gave a small smile while gesturing to take the books from her.  
"Oh..yeah...thanks. My arm was starting to fall asleep.." she gave a sheepish laugh. He was always so polite and offering to help others. Probably the best choice of a man to represent the country. "Have you seen Dr. Banner this morning?" she asked him as the door opened and they both stepped in. She reached over and pressed the button that would take them up to level 12. "I saw him earlier...he stopped in the kitchen briefly to get a cup of coffee. But of course he-"

"Had his nose in a book.." she finished for him while chuckling. "So I guess it's raining outside?" he asked her jokingly. She chuckled once "Yeah..I forgot my umbrella. Bad idea." The elevator came to the 12th level and the doors opened smoothly. It opened to what looked like a sitting room. Large comfortable couches set in front of an equally large television. A bar towards the back of the room with many bottles of wine and any sort of liquor you could want if you had the particular rich taste of Tony Stark. Pepper was sitting at large table along with Tony, Clint and Natasha.

"Good morning Metty" Pepper gave her a cheerful smile. She motioned towards an empty chair "There's plenty of breakfast made if you're hungry." Metty loved that Pepper used her nickname. It made her feel like she had some sort of family to come "home" to. She lived in an apartment close to here with her friend from school, Kate. The two girls met in a dance club that Metis had attended in an attempt to get to know people. Possibly make a few friends.

"No I'm fine I grabbed something from the coffee shop down the street. And something for him because I'm sure he didn't eat...probably hasn't even sipped that cup of coffee Steve said he made for himself." she chuckled a little. She enjoyed her job here. Loved learning everything from Dr. Banner but also loved to watch over him. She didn't really understand the satisfaction she got from the job.

"You'll probably want these back." Steve said to her as he moved to give her the books back when he saw her start to leave for the lab "Oh yeah..duh" She shuffled the coffee and brown bag that housed the bagel to her left hand grabbing the books from him with her now empty right hand. She glanced up at him and smiled. "Thanks..Cap" she said while shifting her weight. "Well I should really go check in on him..It's dangerous to leave him alone for too long." To which Pepper chimed in across the room "Him and Tony both!" Clint laughed and Tony made a face towards Pepper who continued to read her paper innocently. Metty waved good-bye to the others telling them she'd try to bring him out for lunch today. He had a habit of skipping meals but with no windows in the lab it was easy for him to lose track of time without the sun there to remind him.

Pepper watched Metis walk down the hall and smiled "She reminds me of myself sometimes." Steve sat down across from her and started to pour himself some orange juice. "What do you mean?" he said before bringing the glass to his lips and taking a sip. She sighed contently and grabbed her plate as she stood up. "Just the way she dotes on him. Gets his bagel every morning. Makes sure he doesn't skip meals." she gave a sweet look over to Tony who was slurping the milk out of his cereal bowl. He glanced over and smiled at her as she sighed and patted his shoulder. "I have a conference call to get to. I'm going to need you on it as well Tony but I'm not letting you speak this time." He raised a finger to argue his point "No Tony! I'm surprised I was even able to keep the investors on the phone the last time!" she started to walk away as he got up and followed behind her. "What?! They loved me on the last one.. You can't tell me they didn't love my jokes..." their voices trailed off as they walked towards the elevator to head to Peppers office.  
~~~~~

Metty reached the door that opened to the lab and pushed a few buttons on the keypad. The door gave a positive beep and she pulled it open allowing her to walk in letting the hydraulic door close behind her. "Good morning, Dr. Banner." she announced. Over the years she learned it was safest to announce your arrival when he was in the lab. When he was consumed in his work he had a tendency to scare easily. Tony swore he "hulked out" once because of this but Dr. Banner denies it. regardless of working for him for three years she felt she wasn't quite ready to deal with his problem just yet. He refused to talk about it with her whenever she tried to ask questions and she wasn't the type of person to pry.

She took her book bag off and let it fall to the floor with a dull thud. She was desperately in need of a new one as this one was hanging on for dear life. There was no light at the end of its tunnel either as her books for school kept getting larger and heavier. She laid the books in her hands down on one of the lab tables. She had sort of claimed this table as her own. It had various little nick-nacks on it that helped her relax a bit whenever her mind was wracked with equations and chemistry problems. Mostly little stress reliever balls and colorful paper clips that she used to keep her notes together.

She walked over to where he was sitting hunched over some paper work. Numerous books lay open around him. He had his finger on one of the pages and was scribbling something down looking from the book to the paper and back again. The neglected cup of coffee sat untouched and now cold in front of the papers. He put his pencil down and made a move to grab it. She picked it up and placed the hot cup she had purchased for him in his way. He grabbed that instead the heat of which made him realize there was someone else in the room with him. He looked up with his dark grey eyes. "Oh, good morning..," he looked at his watch. "It's still morning, right?" he looked at her.

She laughed "Yes it's still morning. This is for you.." she handed him the brown paper bag that had the bagel in it. He unraveled it and pulled it out taking a bite. "Thanksth.." he said with a mouthful of bagel. "Oh and I was able to look at those algorithms for you last night," she walked over to her bag and pulled out a folder that was labeled BANNER. He turned and watched her as she walked. She never made any sound as she moved and was quite graceful. She must have picked that talent up while working with him. He wasn't exactly the most organized man while he worked. He suddenly felt self-conscious of his work area and started to pick things up. She walked back and handed him the papers.

"You made a few errors here..and here," she pointed them out with her finger. "But I got your basic meaning. I'm sure Tony will be able to understand my chicken scratch..it was late. I was up most of the night trying to solve these and also study for school. Finals are coming up soon.." she stared off into nothing trying to plan her day out. "This is great. I really appreciate this. What would I do with out you? You're just..so amazing." He didn't mean to say the last part out loud and felt embarrassed. She just laughed as if it was nothing and started to pick up some of the papers. She sat down and started to copy his notes down in more legible handwriting. When she wasn't tired and doing two things at once her penmanship was great. He would always compliment her on it and she would always complain "You should really stop writing in the text books.." she pushed one over and pointed to his writing on the margins of the page.

He scratched the back of his head absentmindedly and gave her a sheepish grin. He was much older than she was but he didn't look his age. She assumed it had something to do with the exposure to the gamma radiation. His hair was a dirty blonde but had grey through out it. He was sporting his usual outfit of khaki pants and a long sleeve dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. She just sighed and pulled the book back towards her focusing back on what she was doing. Her mind would wander a bit if she looked at him for too long. She was always curious if he ever felt lonely. Sure he had friends in the others upstairs but he, like her, never talked about a significant other. He spent most of his time in the lab working and when he wasn't here he was sleeping in the next room over.  
"So what exactly was I working on?" she motioned her head towards the "homework" he had given her while she continued to copy his notes. He cleared his throat before answering "Just um..just something Tony wanted me to look at but I figured it'd help you with school since you're minoring in math." he tried to sound casual as he sat back down at his desk. Metty looked up and squinted her eyes in suspicion but just smiled at him and let it go. They both continued in silence each working on their respective projects. She always enjoyed how quiet it was in here with him. She was able to get her thoughts together or let her mind wander.

"I have a date tonight.." she said out of nowhere meaning to keep the thought in her head. He looked up from the papers she had handed him. "Oh?" He wasn't sure how he felt about this and didn't have much else to say. "I figured I'd tell you...so you wouldn't be concerned when I didn't show up after school today.." She was hoping that would justify the sudden outburst of her personal life. He just nodded his head with an expression she couldn't quite read.

"Um.." he cleared his throat a bit and sat down across the table from her at his own desk. "So who's the lucky guy?" he tried to sound as light hearted as possible. He began typing something into his computer while he waited for her answer. She looked over at him trying to think of an answer "He's in my trig class. We're in the same study group and I guess he decided to ask me out...honestly we've never even talked much." She started to think about this and it made her feel uncomfortable. She'd never really spoken to this guy and now he was asking her out on a date. Maybe he was just the shy, intelligent quiet type. She had always been attracted to that type of personality. She caught herself watching him again and looked back down to her things. She got up from the table and started to organize his books back onto their bookshelves.

"What are you guys going to be doing?" still trying to keep a light tone in his voice. He stole a glance at her as she put the books away. "You don't need to do that..I can get it-" she cut him off as he was getting out of his seat. "Dr. Banner...how many times do I have to explain? Me?," she motioned to herself "Lab Assistant aka maid..you?," she motioned to him "Scientist aka mess maker." she flashed a big smile at him and leaned against the bookshelf. "And I'm not sure what we're doing other than dinner..he told me to meet him at a restaurant in the area. And I guess we'll just go from there afterwards." she shrugged. "I haven't been on a date in years...since before I started working with you.." she admitted mostly to herself.

He just laughed "Join the club. We're just two geniuses with major social deformities." she laughed and let a smile linger on her face as she looked down at her watch she realized it was close to 10:15 "Oh shoot..I have class at 10:30..I need to get going. So I wont see you tonight but I will be here tomorrow morning. Please remember to actually drink the coffee you pour for yourself. Trust me..It tastes much better when it's nice and hot." she said as she swung her book bag back around her shoulders. He walked over to give her a hand "That looks really heavy..and has to be horrible for your spine." he examined the book bag and noticed how ripped it was.  
"It's mostly the chemistry text books that are the problem..I'll see you tomorrow morning." she turned and opened the door for herself making her way out of the lab and soon out of the building. She ran into Steve as he was leaving the boxing ring supporting Happy with arms. Happy was leaning on Steve with his sparring gloves still on and his mouth guard in his mouth. "Oh my..god. Is he okay?" Metty asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah he should be fine..he kept asking me to "go all out" so..I...did.." Steve felt ashamed for hurting Happy like this but it wasn't malicious at all. "Aw Cap..It's oaky," she said to him touching his shoulder. She could see he felt bad. "I was going to take him up to the infirmary for a while...get him patched up." Steve said. "Yeah he should probably take it easy...I have to get going..I'll be late for class." she walked off towards the elevator and got in as it opened.


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Note: So my first chapter was received really, really well by a lot of you. That makes me feel super good :3 I just hope everyone will enjoy what's to come. I'm still playing with a few ideas in my head about what's going to go on through the story. I have a few interesting ideas it's just a matter of getting them out of my head and into the computer. This chapter might seem a little shorter only because I want to stretch things out a bit. I don't want to cram a bunch of plots into one chapter and confuse everyone.  
**

Chapter 2

When she was finally done with classes around 5 that evening she went straight to her apartment instead of to the Avengers tower where Dr. Banner was. It was hard to break the habit of her usual route. She felt nervous about the evenings plans and felt even worst when she realized she had to pick out an outfit to wear. She had no idea how to dress for a date. She hadn't even been on a date in years. She looked at herself in a window and debated with herself if it was "date material". Light grey pants, blue cardigan with a white blouse. Dr. Banner didn't require her to obey any sort of dress code. Luckily her roommate was there when she arrived. "You have to help me pick something out...I have no idea what to wear tonight." Her roommate,Kate, was very beautiful. She had blonde hair and bright blue eyes a visual opposite to Mettys dark brown hair and brown eyes. Kate always had dates on the weekends and was comfortable around men and always knew exactly what to say or do around them. Mettys idea of flirting was being able to sing the periodic table of elements. A tune she made up during her freshman year of college.

"You know what..I have the perfect dress for you..." her roommate left the room for a second leaving Metty in a tank top and her underwear. They had been holding different outfits up against her in front of the mirror trying to see which ones worked. Metty had no clue what her roommate meant when she said things like "too frumpy" "too out there" or "it makes you look lopsided" Kate came back with a little black number. They were the same size so they were able to share clothes though it didn't happen much. Metty slipped on the dress and Kate zipped it up in the back for her.  
"I can't wear this..." Metty said as she looked in the mirror. "Why not?" Kate asked insulted as if she had created the dress herself. "It shows way too much skin..jesus.." she tried pulling it down to cover her legs more. It landed in the middle of her thighs. It wasn't that she was self conscious about her body. She was more afraid of what people would think of her if she wore something like this. She prefered to dress herself in a way that allowed her to fall into the crowd. The dress was low cut and gave the suitor the perfect view of the wearers chest. "You look hot." Kate told her in a very matter-of-fact way. "Now..all that's left.." she started to move for her make up bag. "No! No make up...I'm not going all out. This is just dinner. That's it." Metty backed away from her. Kate looked defeated but then offered "Well at least let me do something with your hair." She pulled the hair tie out of Mettys hair.

"Ouch.." she rubbed the back of her head "My hair looks fine.." she fluffed it a bit and let it fall around her shoulders. She had thick brown hair that got in everyones way; the reason why she kept it pulled back all the time. "Fine" Kate breathed out. "We wont touch your hair. Have fun tonight." she grabbed her clothes and make up bag and walked out. Metty took one more look at herself in the mirror and tried to muster some sort of confidence in herself. She did look very good in the dress. She grabbed her small clutch bag and walked out of her room and made her way towards the front door and grabbed a jacket hanging on the peg as she left. She tried to steady her breathing as she made her way towards the restaurant she was told to meet him at.  
She really couldn't figure out why he had asked her out but she was going to see how things went tonight and worry about the details later. She arrived early and sat herself at the bar waiting for him. She was half scared he wasn't going to show up tonight. She had been stood up enough times in her life..more times than she'd like to count honestly.

"Can I just get a ginger ale with two maraschino cherries, please?" the bartender smiled and took a glass out. He set it down in front of her and she took a sip. Metty wasn't a big drinker when it came to alcohol. It made her brain really fuzzy and she usually ended up saying things she either didn't mean or she meant to keep burried. Finally Mike showed up and spotted her over at the bar. "You look great.." he said as he scanned her with his eyes. It made her feel very uncomfortable but she gave a smile. It did feel nice to get noticed by the opposite sex.  
Small talk resumed between the two of them and she still couldn't figure out why he had asked her out. Mike was big into sports and played for the schools basketball team. He had mentioned how grades were really important to his coach and he was having a hard time keeping up in their trig class. That's when he asked her if she could help him with his homework. He explained how as long as the homework was done he could flunk the tests and still make a passing grade.

"So you want me to do your homework for you.." she said slowly still trying to comprehend if he was really asking her this. "Well..yeah if you want to put it that way." he just sort of smiled at her as if this was an every day thing for him. "What other way could you possibly put it? So you asked me out because I'm the smartest in class..and you thought I'd be okay with doing your homework for you? So you can keep playing?" she laid it all out for herself. "Hey I'm probably doing you a favor by going out with you. I don't exactly see a line of guys trailing behind you. I figured you'd be happy to repay the favor." the way he said it so casually was what hurt the most. She never really thought anyone had noticed her lack of social life but apparently they did.

She got up from her chair and started to leave but he grabbed her arm preventing her from doing so. "So are you going to help me out or what?" he asked her. She looked at him for a moment and grabbed her glass of ginger ale. Usually people drank the stuff when they had an upset stomach but the nights events made it hard for her to stomach anything at the moment. She tipped the glass over and dumped it right into his lap and she walked away from him. She didn't want to start crying in the restaurant so she held it in for as long as she could. Half way to the door was as good as it got and the tears started to flow down her cheeks. She felt hurt and embarrassed at herself and the stupid outfit that Kate had her wear.  
Metty walked a few blocks down the street and stopped unsure of where she wanted to go. She decided that she would stop by her apartment, grab her books and papers for school and head back to the lab at the Avengers tower. Hopefully Kate was out for the night and wouldn't ask questions about her date. Luck seemed to be somewhat in her favor as she opened the door to an empty apartment. She grabbed her books off the couch and collected the notes for her dissertation she had been working on. It was due tomorrow afternoon and she only had a few more things to write up for it. Hopefully studying for finals and finishing the paper would keep her mind off of everything.

She locked up behind herself and went outside in the direction of the only place she really felt comfortable. She went through the back entrance since the main was locked for the night. The doors to the elevator opened with a soft ding and she stepped in. Sighing she hit the button with the large 12 on it. The ride was quiet and smooth and she was glad she didn't run into anyone as she stepped out and headed towards the lab. She stopped and back tracked. Walking over to the bar she grabbed a bottle of wine and a glass for herself. She never drank but figured a glass wouldn't hurt while she was studying. She looked at the label on the bottle. It said something in Italian and had a deep red color.  
Walking back to the lab trying to balance everything in her hands she pressed in her key code on the door. It gave the familiar positive beep and she opened the door. She walked in and set everything down on her desk and looked up. Dr. Banner was at a microscope looking at something on a slide. He was focused on what he was doing and didn't hear her arrive.

"Sorry..I thought you'd be gone for the night..."she said to him carefully so he wouldn't scare. He didn't look up and responded "I thought you weren't coming in tonight...thought you had that," he looked up at her and lost his train of thought. She looked amazing in the dress. He wasn't even aware she owned anything like that. He could have sworn she lived in cardigans and jeans. "date.." he trailed off. She could feel her face flush as he looked at her. She felt exposed and out in the open. She knew he would never think less of her because of her outfit though.  
"It's not mine" she motioned to the dress. "It's Kates. She insisted I wear something that didn't make me look 'frumpy' or 'lopsided' whatever the hell that means. I meant to change when I got to my apartment but I got distracted and forgot..." she sat down in the chair hard and grabbed the bottle of wine. "Having a nightcap are we?" he smiled at her. She just looked at him with a straight face. "He asked me out because I'm the 'smart girl' He needed someone to do his homework or else he couldn't play basketball. He said I should be happy that he asked me out." her voice started to break again as she finally got the cork out of the bottle with a loud THUNK. She started to pour some into the glass and then motioned towards him. "Did you..want any?" She couldn't remember ever seeing him drink. Another one of those things she assumed he didn't do because of his little problem.

He shook his head no which half confirmed her assumptions and she took a big drink from her glass. "I'm really sorry about that...we guys can be assholes sometimes." he shrugged and sat down in front of her. She shook her head and looked at him "You're not an asshole Dr. Banner." she sniffled a little and took another drink from her glass leaving it less than half full. She poured more into the glass and set the bottle down. "Will Tony be mad that I drank some of this? I have no idea if this is cheap or not." she looked at the bottle again. "I'm sure it isn't cheap..but I'm also sure he can afford another bottle." he said with a smile. "What are you doing here though? Not that I don't want you here..I just..I figured you girls liked to be around other girls when a guy does you wrong." he shuffled some of the papers in front of him more to give his hands something to do then to actually organize anything.

She took another drink of her glass. Her head started to feel light on her shoulders and she could feel her face getting warmer from the wine. "Kate isn't someone I can really..confide in. We're two different people. From two different planets practically. She has no problem getting guys at all. She's so confident and beautiful and she can flirt." she couldn't stop the words from coming out of her mouth. She hiccuped and took another drink from her glass.

"You're...nice looking..You don't give yourself enough credit." He said trying to sound casual. 'Great' he thought 'Yeah she really wants to hear that she looks 'nice'...Should have said gorgeous or amazing' He mentally smacked himself in the face. She just laughed a little and leaned back in her chair. They sat quietly at the table her taking occasional drinks from her glass. She was trying to finish her paper since it was due the next day. "How can you write when you've been drinking?" he looked up at her. She looked up with glassy eyes and pink cheeks. He gave a small laugh at her expression as she started to speak "Well..to be honest..I've already written this paper a few times. I have a bad habit of re-writing my papers when I don't think they're up to par.." she stumbled through her words a bit.

She pushed the finished paper away from her and crossed her arms across her chest and leaned her chair back staring at the ceiling. "I feel so stupid for getting all dressed up. And now I'm sitting here. Drunk. In front of my own boss." Her thoughts somehow kept finding their way to her lips. She let her chair down and rested her head in her hands. "I can't even remember the last time I drank.." He continued flipping through a book and writing "It was 2 years ago at that convention we went to with Tony. The one where he and I gave a presentation on Biochemical Engineering." She started thinking back "Was that the one where he tried to get you to 'Hulk out' on stage to give a 'better example'" she used air quotes. He gave a sarcastic chuckle and responded "Yeah...that was it. I remember you kept drinking the champagne. That stuff can sneak up on you." he smiled at her. She was hoping he didn't remember anything else from that night. She had admitted a few things to Pepper and couldn't remember if Dr. Banner had been near enough to hear her. Judging from him not having anything else to say about the subject she figured he hadn't heard her. Or maybe he was just too polite to bring something like that up.

She was surprised he remembered something so miniscule about her. She looked over at what he was doing. He seemed to be trying to work through some equations. It was most likely something for one of Tony's newest inventions. "You're just...you're really great, Bruce.." she said as she laid her head on the table. He was taken by surprise when she used his first name. He was always Dr. Banner and never Bruce. Hearing her say his name stirred something deep down inside of him. He just swallowed hard to keep whatever it was at bay. She opened her books and started to study. Neither say anything to break the silence that had suddenly made its home between them.

After a few hours and half the bottle of wine Metty finally looked up "Ugh..I should really go..it's getting late." she tried to stand up and felt light on her feet. She swayed a bit and held her head. "There's no way you're going home like this. You can stay here tonight." he walked over to steady her but didn't feel comfortable enough to put his hands on her. She shuffled behind him into his room where she stopped in the doorway. "Shouldn't I sleep in a guest room or something?" she leaned against the frame unable to support herself anymore. She remembered how much she hated alcohol. "Do you think you can make it upstairs?" he gave her a knowing look.

"I..uh..I don't really have any clothes that'll fit you..I'm sure you don't want to sleep in that dress.." he opened up a large closet and looked through it. Pulling out a SHIELD sweatshirt and holding it up. She smiled and took the sweatshirt from him. She opened her mouth to tell him something and he watched her only to have her bend over and retch all over his shoes. He took a step back out of reaction. "I'm...I'm so sorry...I'll clean it up" she said through groans. She couldn't lift her head to look at him too ashamed of herself. She took the sweatshirt from him and walked into the other room to change. He looked down and noticed that the mess had absorbed into the carpet. Probably another one of Tony's inventions. He had always wondered how the carpet stayed so clean even with Thor sometimes living in the building. Bruce sat on his bed and took his shoes off and carried them out with him. He'd worry about cleaning them later. He placed them in one of the large sinks in the lab and sat back down at his desk to finish his work.

The next morning Metty opened her eyes slowly. She didn't recognize the room she was in or the bed she was laying on. She sat up and looked at the shirt she was wearing and it started coming back to her. "Oh my god..that happened.." she said quietly as she remembered the wine, the nonstop talking on her end and throwing up on his shoes. She got out from under the blankets and got off the bed. Peeking her head around the door she tried to look into the lab to see if he was in there. Of course he was in there. She even talked about how he never left the lab with Kate. She took a breath of courage and walked in realizing she had to face him eventually since she worked for him. He looked up as soon as she entered the room and gave her a small smile. He must have slept in the lab last night judging by the blankets and pillow on a chair behind him. "I.." she started but he interrupted her "It's fine. You had a lot to drink.." he gave her another reassuring smile. She stood there and realized she was only wearing the sweatshirt which luckily covered more than the black dress. She still had the same feeling of exposure again like last night. She started pulling at the shirt trying to cover herself even more.

Then there was the loud noise of Tony barging into the lab unannounced. "Good morning, Jolly green giant" he said in his usual booming voice. He then stopped and stared at the scene in front of him. He looked from the half naked Metty, to the bottle of wine to the slightly dishevled Bruce then to the blankets and pillows in the room. A sly smile stretched across his face as he started to piece together his own explaination. "It's not what you think, Tony.." Bruce said to him sternly. The smile on Tonys face began to get bigger when he suddenly realized which wine bottle it was. "Hey..is this my Dom Romanee?" he picked the bottle up to examine it. Metty shifted uncomfortably "It was really good.." Tony just looked at her "Well I'm glad you two enjoyed it.." Bruce gave up trying to explain the situation to him. Then Tony started to sniff the air "What is that...have you been experimenting again?" he walked around smelling the air until he came to the sink where Bruce's shoes lay. "She threw up on them last night." Mettys face turned beat red not wanting to exist anymore.

"Is that some kind of weird sex thing?" he asked them. Bruce just shook his head. "Well anyway...it's almost noon and I wanted you to come down to the shop with me-" This comment shook Metty into reality "Noon?! Oh my god I'm late for class.." she started grabbing her things together then realized what she was wearing. "I don't have any pants...and I can't wear that dress to school.." she said looking at Bruce. "What the hell went on in here last night?" Tony tried to chime in. They both ignored him. "I'm sure Pepper has something you could throw on." he said to her. "She's in her office right now" Tony threw in as Metty ran out of the lab towards the elevator.

Tony and Bruce were deep in discussion about the plans for the newest suit until Bruce looked over and noticed that Metty had ran out the door without grabbing her paper. "She forgot her dissertation.." he picked up papers and shuffled them neatly. "I should go take this to her..it was due today and she'd been working on it for weeks." Tony looked up "How do you remember so much about her? I can barely remember what Pepper told me 20 minutes ago...Someting about a..meeting..I think" he trailed off thinking. Bruce rolled his eyes "It's really important to her and I'm sure it's a big part of her grade." Tony shrugged "Cool I'll go with you. I could use some fresh air..especially after being in this dungeon of yours." Bruce decided there was no use responding to Tonys comment. He got up and grabbed his jacket off the hook near the door and left with Tony walking behind him. "You don't need to come along, Tony." he said speaking over his shoulder. "Yeah but what if you suddenly hulk out in the middle of street? I mean lets face it..New Yorkers aren't the nicest people on earth..even if you've saved the earth for them." he mumbled the last part to himself. Bruce knew that Tony was right. It was one of the main reasons why he never left the tower in the first place. He was too afraid he wouldn't be able to control the other guy if something set him off. He knew how much the paper meant to Metis and her school career, though.


	3. Chapter 3

**Authors Note: Just wanted to thank everyone for their reviews, follows and favorites! I am seriously tickled over everything. Makes me feel really good when I check here and see there's more follows/favorites :D You guys rock! I was planning on posting this yesterday but my internet wasn't cooperating with me at all. Not much happens in this one I'm just trying to set up some plot points here. Hope you all enjoy it anyway :D  
**

Chapter 3

They walked out of the tower and down the street towards her college. Arriving there they noticed that the usually packed court yard was empty of students. Most likely the December cold was keeping them indoors now. They entered through two doors which led to a large lobby. A woman sat behind a desk and was busy typing away, her glasses sitting on the tip of her nose. She spoke without looking up "Do you have an appointment?" Bruce was about to speak but Tony interrupted him "No, sweetheart, we don't but we were wondering if you could direct us where a particular student is?" She spoke again "I'm sorry sir but I'm not able to give out that.." she looked up and realized it was Tony Stark standing in front of her. Her face went red and she started to fan herself "Oh my..you're..you're Tony Stark..I can't believe this..What can I help you with?" Tony glanced at Bruce knowingly "We're looking for a student here." she clapped her hands together enthusiastically "Oh of course..what's the name?" she put her hands on her keyboard readying them to type. "Uh..her name..is.." he always drew a blank with her. She never stuck out in the day to day life at the tower.

"Metis Luprie.." Bruce finished for him. The star struck secretary suddenly realized there was another man next to Tony. "Oh and you're Dr. Banner! Oh I remember you gave a presentation once here for our science department!" she started typing Mettys name into the system. "Why wasn't I invited?" Tony asked with a sad face "Because you're a menace." Bruce said in a matter-of-fact way while looking around the large lobby. There were sculptures set up around the room which he assumed were from the students in the art department. "Ah yes..according to her schedule she should be in Organic Chemistry" the secretary beamed up at the two men particularly Tony. "It's just down that way..Room 112" she pointed and stare dreamily at Tony. He just flashed her his biggest smile "Thank you..we really appreciate your help." Bruce said as he pushed Tony out of the way hoping to snap him back to reality. They both started walking down the hall and came to the door with 112 on it.

"You can just stay here..I'll just run in and drop it off." Bruce said as he opened the door slowly. The classroom had stadium style seating. The door creaked as he opened it which caused the professor to turn his head slightly in their direction "I don't like interruptions during my lec..oh my..Dr. Banner! What an honor!" he grabbed the mans hand and shook it quickly. The students started to look up and murmur excitedly to each other. Some were raising their hands to get Dr. Banner to look at them. "Uh..Hi yeah it's nice to meet you..I-" the professor interrupted him "Oh please tell me you've decided to drop in and give a surprise lecture!" Bruce started to explain himself while looking around the room for her.

Metty was sat all the way in the back. She was in her own world writing something in a notebook when a student next to her bumped her shoulder snapping her back to reality. She had glasses on and had hastily thrown her hair into a messy bun. Her eyes met Dr. Banners across the room and she gave him a questionable look. He turned back to the professor "Oh no...I just came by to speak to Metis." he motioned to where she was sitting. She slid down in her chair as she felt everyones eyes on her. Kate was the only one who knew she worked for Dr. Banner. This is precisely why she never mentioned it to anyone. The other students stared and started to whisper to each other. Just as she felt her day couldn't get any worst Tony burst into the room.

"What's taking so long B?" he strutted over to the professors desk and sat in his chair leaning back with his feet on the desk. A few of the female students giggled and called his name to get his attention. He looked over at them winking and waving back. "Miss Luprie why haven't you ever told us you work along side two of the most brilliant men?!" her professor excitedly said as he shook Tonys hand as well. "Guess it just slipped my mind." she could feel her cheeks getting warm as more students turned to look at her. "Well now we know how she gets the highest grades all the time." one of the students near her said to his friend not trying very hard to keep his voice low. She ignored the comment and started scribbling some notes into one of her text books. "Great minds think alike I guess?" his voice startled her and she jumped. Metty looked up to see Dr. Banner standing in front of her "What?" she asked him. She pushed her glasses up her nose a little. "You're writing in your text book...I have the same habit. You only yell at me for it every day." he laughed a bit. "I didn't know you wore glasses.." She remembered they were on her face and took them off. "I..Can't see the board from back here..." she folded them quickly and put them into a case. "Well here...you left this on the table after you ran out this morning." he laid the papers down in front of her. "Sorry to start all this ruckus in here." he motioned towards where Tony was surrounded by a group of girls. "He looks like he's enjoying himself to be honest." she said chuckling.

Bruce cleared his throat nervously and looked around at some of the other students who were watching them. "Well anyway I just figured it'd be better to bring it to you now..so you could turn it in." he looked at her not sure of the reaction he was expecting from her. She finally spoke up and gave him a polite smile "Well thank you. I really appreciate it. Luckily my professor gave me an extension but now I can turn it in. I'll see you after class." He gave a small wave and walked back down towards Tony who's group had grown a bit bigger along with his ego.

The professor was talking animatedly to him about his ideas on thermo-dynamics. Tony was just nodding along without really listening. "This guy hasn't stopped talking since you left." he talked from the side of his mouth to Bruce. Bruce leaned in "It's been a pleasure sir but we really have to get going.." he held his hand out and shook the professors. "Oh yes yes..Well maybe some time I could stop by and check out your lab? We can compare theories or even-" Tony cut him off "Yeah we'll consider it." they both turned to leave the room. A few girls stopped Tony in his tracks "Mr. Stark we'd love to get together sometime and ask you some questions for the science column of the school paper." The red-headed girl spoke. She flashed him a dazzling smile. Bruce leaned in sensing Tony was about to reply "Tony these girls are half your age..." Tony started to argue "And what about Pepper..." he mentioned. Tony shrugged "You're right..There's just nothing like an attractive girl who loves science." he said casually as he walked out of the classroom. Bruce turned and waved at Metty as the last part of Tony's statement buzzed around in his head. Her face felt hot as she lifted her hand waved meekly back. A few of the girls in the class made jealous noises.

After class Metty went to her apartment to check in with her roommate and change out of the clothes she borrowed from Pepper. She walked in and found Kate laying on the couch eating ice cream and watching t.v. "Shouldn't you be studying? Finals are coming up?" Metty asked as she walked past the couch Kate was laying on and towards her room. "You know I study best when I'm on a time crunch!" she yelled to her. Metty walked into her room and started to rummage through her closet to find something to change into. She tried not to think about the fiasco in her chemistry class today. She wasn't looking forward to the next class and all the whispers from the other students. But she couldn't help but feel flattered that he went out of his way to bring that paper to her.

Tony and Bruce arrived back at the tower after dropping off the paper for Metis. "Where have you two been?" Pepper asked as she flipped through some pages on a clipboard. "We stopped by Metis' college to drop off her paper. She left it this morning." Bruce explained. Pepper nodded "Yeah she seemed to be in a hurry. Oh she gave me this to give back to you." She walked into another room and came back with the SHIELD sweatshirt. Handing it over to Bruce she asked "Did she stay here last night or something?" Bruce glanced over at Tony who was smiling. He was about to say something when JARVIS' voice came over them "Sir the configurations you asked for are finsihed for your newest suit." Tony snapped his fingers excitedly. "I need to go check those. I'll be back." He walked past Pepper and kissed her on the cheek then continued on his way to his shop.

Pepper leaned against the back of a couch and held the clipboard against her chest. "So she stayed here? What happened? Another late night experimentation?" she laughed a little. Bruce rubbed the back of his head casually "Not quite..She had this date with some guy from school. He turned out to be a big jerk. Some jock who just wanted her to do his homework for him or something. She was pretty upset and had a few glasses of wine. I wasn't about to let her walk home and she could barely walk to any of the guest rooms. So she fell asleep in my bed. After she threw up on my shoes." he laughed about it now. It seemed almost comical the more he thought about it. Although he was sure she was completely mortified which made him feel bad for laughing.

"The poor girl," Pepper said after he finished. "I bet she feels horrible. I should take her out. She's probably been swamped with her finals coming up and working here. She deserves some time out with other girls. And the next time I see her I'll have to ask what perfume she wears. It smells amazing." she motioned towards the sweatshirt and left the room to head to Tony's shop. Bruce looked back down at the sweatshirt in his hands and looked around the room. He lifted it to his nose and gave a small sniff. The sweatshirt had the soft aroma of violets on it. The smell made him feel content and his mind started to wander to her. He shook his head a bit and finally walked to his room and hung the sweatshirt up in his closet. It wasn't technically dirty so he didn't need to wash it, right? He tried to justify the idea to himself.

Metty left the apartment after chatting with Kate for a little bit and headed towards the tower. She took the back entrance into the building and went to the 12 floor. When the elevator opened she stepped out and headed towards the lab. She laid her books on the table to prep for some studying. Looking around she saw him in front of his computer typing something into a program. "Good evening" she called over to him. He noticed the other voice and looked over. "Oh hey" he took his glasses off his face and rubbed his eyes. "Thanks for bringing that paper up. I really appreciate it. I feel like I didn't really get to thank you properly. I just felt a little...overwhelmed in class." she leaned against the front of the table while she talked with him.

"Oh..Pepper wanted to know what perfume you wear." he felt weird asking her this question. "Perfume I wear?" she asked him. "Yeah my sweatshirt smells like violets or something...Not that I smelled it or anything. I mean I smelled it but only because Pepper, you know, asked me to.." he was stumbling over his words as she raised an eyebrow at him. She finally shrugged it off "I make it myself. It's kind of a hobby I got into." he looked over with interest. "Oh..that's pretty cool. I think she'll probably want some then." Metty laughed a little "I don't know if I can give her any..it's sort of my own personal smell." he gave her a questioning look. "I know it sounds weird...but like the scent just..fits me..never mind. It's sounding even stranger when I say it out loud." she laughed and walked around to her chair to start studying. The more he thought about it though the more agreed. The smell of those flowers made him think of her instantly. The smell made him feel comfortable and at ease.

He caught himself staring at her as she studied from her notebooks and turned away. JARVIS' voice came over the room "Miss Luprie, Pepper would like to speak with you." Metty looked up "Oh okay tell her I'll be right there, JARVIS."

Pepper was waiting for her in the sitting room and smiled as she approached. "Hi Pepper. Was there something you needed?" Metty asked politely. Pepper smiled back "No actually I just wanted to ask you something. Bruce told me about that date you had with that jerk," Metty felt a little uncomfortable. She was hoping no one would have found out about that. "Oh..Yeah it's no big deal." she started. "It is a big deal. Guys can be such pricks. I think you need a girls night out. You've been studying a lot with finals coming up. It'll be fun and you can invite your roommate, Kate, if you'd like." she watched as Metty mulled the idea over in her head "I don't know Pepper. I appreciate the gesture but-" Pepper grabbed her arm "Oh come on. It'll be great. We can get Happy to drive us around the city maybe go to a club?" she had a big smile on her face. Metty could tell Pepper was trying to make her feel better and she really did appreciate it. "Okay fine. I'll go and I'll ask Kate. She loves going out to clubs and she'll love showing up in a limo." Pepper clasped her hands together "Okay then it's settled. We'll go out tomorrow evening. This is going to be a lot of fun!" she took her phone out and started to dial a number as she walked away.

Metty sighed and walked back into the lab where Dr. Banner was still working on his computer. She sat back down and started to go through some of her notes from school. "Everything okay?" he asked without looking up. She was writing something in her notebook while she replied "Yeah. Pepper thinks I need a 'girls night out' so we're going out tomorrow to a club or something." this piqued his interest a little and he looked up. "Well that should be fun, right?" She looked up with an eyebrow cocked. "Maybe not?" he corrected himself. "It's just not really my thing. I'd much prefer to just stay in. Get some school work done. She thinks that date I had with that guy upset me. I mean don't get me wrong it did but I'm not worried about it. Things happen." she shrugged a little her voice sounding a little sad.


	4. Chapter 4

**I apologize for how late this chapter is. I've been really sick this past week and a half and haven't had any energy to do much of anything. Hopefully the length and content of this chapter will make up for that! I hope you all are still reading and still interested. I've had time to think some of the plot over and have a few ideas that I'd love to write out. I'm not as sick as I was anymore so I'm hoping the next chapter will come a tad bit faster than this one. :D  
**

Chapter 4

The next day Metty felt apprehensive about the nights event. "Well you never go out, Met, and she's right it'll be a lot of fun. You're a great dancer anyway!" Kate tried to justify while brushing her teeth in the bathroom. Metty was laying on the couch in their living room playing with the fringe on one of the pillows. Kate was right. And Metty had even told herself that her New Years Resolution would be to try things more. Get out there and live life a little more. What was the harm in starting that a month early? "Yeah I guess you're right" Metty said while blowing her bangs out of her face. Kate leaned out of the bathroom and yelled down the short hall "Wow can I get that in writing?" she half laughed. Metty just smiled to herself. Maybe tonight wouldn't be as bad as she was thinking.

Kate came out of the bathroom and Metty sat up so Kate could sit with her. "Plus who knows..maybe you'll find someone at the club. Your Knight in Shining Armor, perhaps?" she elbowed Metty a little. Kate was set on finding her soul mate and sometimes liked to live that through Metty as well. Metty made a face and Kate laughed at her "Or should I say 'scientist in a white lab coat'?" Metty just smiled at her. "Our relationship is strictly professional, Kate. You know that. I mean sometimes it's like he barely registers I'm in the same room with him. I'm just there to work under him and assist him. That's it." she seemed to be trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince her roommate.

"I have to get going." Metty said while standing up. "Dr. Banner said he needed me in the lab early today to get some work done." she gathered some of her things and started to head towards the door. "I'll just give you a call and let you know when you can come over. Just come through the back entrance of the tower." Kate just flopped over on the couch and gave her a thumbs up. Metty shook her head and walked out the door towards the tower. It was cold outside and she gripped her jacket to her so the wind wouldn't cut through her. She actually remembered to bring her scarf this time and was thankful for the extra warmth it brought to her. She decided to skip the bustling front entrance and walked through the back instead. The elevator took her smoothly to the 12th floor and she stepped out into the quiet sitting room.

She looked around and found Dr. Banner in the small kitchen making himself a cup of coffee. At least that's what it appeared he was doing as she moved closer she saw he had no idea how to operate the coffee machine. To his defense it was rather high tech for something that produced a simple drink. "Here..let me do that." she took the filter from him and placed it inside the machine. He jumped a little at her sudden appearance next to him. "I can never figure these things out." he said while he scratched the back of his head. She chuckled "Funny..it's always the simplest things that the smartest men can't figure out." she started to scoop coffee grounds into the filter and pour the water into the machine. Shutting the little door it hummed to life and started to release the smell of fresh coffee.

"So what did you need me so early for?" she asked while placing the lid back on the coffee container. He wasn't sure how to begin explaining to her what he had been working on and what he was finally discovering. "Just something I've been working on. I need your steady hands for this last test." she gave him a quizzical look. "I just don't want to mess this up that's all." he turned to walk back to the lab "Could you bring the coffee with you? Two-" she cut him off "Two sugars no cream. I know." she leaned against the counter and smiled at him. He stopped and looked at her. Of course she knew, Banner, she brings you a cup every day he thought to himself. She always seems to know these small things about you. He didn't realize he had been staring until she finally spoke up "Dr. Banner? Are you okay?" she asked slowly. He shook his head a little and blinked. "Yeah just..lost in thought with the work I've been doing." he turned and headed back to the lab.

She filed into the lab about 10 minutes later carrying a tray with a cup of coffee for him and an english muffin. "I forgot to stop by the cafe for your bagel so I figured an english muffin would be just as good." she said as she placed the tray down on his desk for him. He looked up from the packet he was reading, looked at the tray and then looked at her. She had picked up a few things and started organizing his desk."So what did you need help with exactly?" she asked casually. "Should I get the gloves and goggles out?" He set down the packet and examined everything that was laid out. "Goggles yes..I don't think you'll need the gloves. Tony and I have been researching a new energy source for his suit and possibly to run the building among other things. Today we'll be running a little test to see how stable it is." She just nodded her head in understanding while grabbing a pair of goggles and placing them onto her head.

They continued to work in silence for a few hours. After a few failed tests and explosions Metty finally pulled her goggles off of her face. There was a ring of black soot around her eyes where the goggles had been resting. "Dr. Banner..I think we should call it a day. I don't know if Pepper is going to be thrilled about the whole in the wall." she pointed over her shoulder to a large smoking ring on the wall behind her. He took his goggles off and removed his glasses. Rubbing between his eyes and smudging black on his face he sighed "Yeah..you're right. What time is it anyway? I think my watch..might have..exploded." he looked at his wrist and tapped what used to be a watch. She grabbed her phone and looked at the time. "It's 6:30. I think I should probably give Kate a call actually. She's supposed to go out with us tonight." she plopped down in the chair at her desk.

He wiped his hands on a rag as he sat down at his desk and stared at the data they collected. "Are you looking forward to the club?" he asked curiously. He wasn't sure how he felt about her going out. What if she met someone there? Why would that matter, Banner? She works for you. She's just a lab assistant. That's it. His logical self said. The emotional side of him wasn't so sure if that's all she was to him. She shrugged. "Yeah actually I am. The more I think about it the more I feel like I deserve to go out and just have fun. Kate's right..I never go out and I should more. It's my New Years resolution, too." she crossed her arms and nodded at him. He thought to himself for a bit. "New Years Resolution, eh? I haven't made one of those in forever." she sighed "Yeah I make one every year. Usually the same thing 'no fast food all year' or something trivial like that. Bug I figured this year I'd do something more about bettering who I am. Not just physically."

He nodded his head in agreement slowly thinking things over in his head. She seemed to have read his mind when she asked "What would yours be?" he looked at her and then finally spoke. "Mine? I guess it would be to just..go for it." she tilted her head questioning him. "Just go for it? Go for what?" He studied her face for a few moments. He could swear through the pungent odor of the sulphuric acid and smoke in the air he could smell the violet perfume she always wore. It clouded his mind as he tried to answer her question. "Just um..I don't know. Like just go for things..and not be so hesitant?" he wasn't sure if the answer even made sense. She got up and started to collect her things. "Well that sounds good to me. I guess it would do us both good to not be so hesitant about things." He laughed in agreement.

She got up and collected her things "Well I need to get going. I'm sure Kate is waiting for me to call her so she can come over. She has a thing for Captain America." she chuckled and took her cell phone out to call Kate. He got up and started to clean up his desk a bit while she talked to Kate on the phone. "Yeah just come around the back entrance. Yes. Yes. I don't know if he's here. He probably is. Yes I know, Kate. I know..Okay just come over." Kate could still be heard talking on the other line as Metty pressed the end call button. Dr. Banner gave her a funny look to which Metty responded "Like I said..she has a thing for Captain America. She loves the whole super hero thing. She's on her way over so I should probably wait out there for her." she started to walk towards the door when he spoke "Wait..." she turned and looked at him "Yes?" she waited for him to speak but he never did. He watched her for a full moment and she stared back smiling waiting for him to say something to her. "Um..nothing..it's nothing. Have fun tonight." he sat at his desk and started to write some things down hoping she'd just forget. He wasn't sure what he wanted to tell her.

Metty walked into the large sitting room where Natasha was talking with Clint about something quietly. Clint looked to be a little upset about something but assumed a stoic expression when he noticed Metty. "Sorry..I'm just waiting for Kate to show up." she felt uncomfortable with them both staring at her. Natasha gave Metty a small smile "Does Cap know she's coming over? Should he hide somewhere?" Clint chuckled. Metty rolled her eyes "It'll be fine. She's not some raving fan-girl or anything." Just then the elevator made its usual tone signaling the arrival of someone. Kate stepped out and waved to her friend "Hey Met. Excited for tonight?" she poked her friend on the shoulder playfully. Metty sighed "As ready as I'll ever be. Oh I don't know if you've met Clint or Natasha before, Kate." she motioned towards the two spies who were whispering something to each other. They nodded to her

and Kate responded with a small wave. Metty and Kate started to discuss the subject of what Metty would be wearing tonight. Kate was of course insisting Metty wear something more revealing than what she normally would and of course brought a few dresses and skirts with her. She was grabbing one from the pile on her arm when Steve walked into the room. Kate looked up and her face turned red. "Oh hey Steve. Steve this is my roommate Kate. I don't know if you two have met before. Kate is a real big fan of yours." She grabbed Kates shoulders and pushed her towards Steve. "Uh..hi" he held his hand out awkwardly for her to shake it. She just stared at him with her mouth opened until she finally squeaked out "Hi." He smiled sweetly at her "It's nice to meet you." she continued to gape at him and he started to feel a little awkward. "Well I'm going to head to the gym..Clint and I have some training to do." Clint was chuckling with Natasha over Kate's reaction to Steve. "See you around." Metty said to the two men as they left for the elevator. Natasha had her arms crossed and was leaning on the couch. "It seems someone has a slight crush." she said to Kate. Kate's face flushed "I could say the same about you with Clint." she retorted. Natasha looked a little taken aback but decided not to respond.

"Metis, Pepper is asking for you to join her in her dressing closet." JARVIS spoke over the room. The sudden sound made Kate jump. Metty never realized how accustomed she had become of the AI. "We'll be right there, JARVIS, thank you." Kate followed Metty and Natasha onto the elevator and made their way to the lower level of the tower where Pepper was. They joined her and soon decided on their outfits. "I think you'll really like this place, Metty." Pepper spoke confidently. "It has a great atmosphere. It's not too crazy or too loud. And there's always some very interesting people to meet. We'll be meeting a few of my friends there, too." she turned and adjusted her necklace around her neck. Pepper had chosen a very classy black dress to wear tonight. Kate was wearing a lavender colored short dress. It had a low neckline but still looked very becoming on her. Metty had decided to wear the violet colored dress. She had always had a soft spot for the flower and the color. It was a little tight fitting and came to above her knees. She felt comfortable in this dress and didn't feel like she was as exposed as she was in the black dress Kate had lent her before.

When they all finished getting ready they met in the lobby of the building. Natasha had already made her way down there and was waiting for them along with Tony and Bruce. Tony gave Pepper a disapproving look. "I left a perfectly good outfit on the bed for you." he crossed his arms as she approached him. "Tony that was a sack..Literally.. it was a pillow case..." she crossed her arms as well and gave him a look. He smiled sheepishly and started to defend his case literally and figuratively. Kate and Metty were talking about the night out on the town when Bruce approached them. "Well you two look nice." he tried to sound casual as he looked at them both making sure his eyes didn't linger too long on Metty. "Aw thanks, Dr. Banner." Metty said politely. Kate interrupted her "Doesn't purple look great on her? I always tell her that but she never listens to me." Metty knew exactly what Kate was trying to do. Kate was sure that Metty and Dr. Banner had a thing for each other. She was determined to spark something between them. Steve appeared at the elevator and Kate straightened up "I'm going to talk to him. He probably thinks I'm an idiot or something." Metty looked at her friend "Trust me..He has zero experience with women so I'm sure he didn't think that." She felt bad for saying it that way but it was the truth and it was almost endearing the way he stumbled over his words sometimes. He did it even more so with girls he liked or found pretty. _Come to think of it_, she thought in her head, _Dr. Banner was the same way._ She turned slightly and looked at him from the corner of her eye. _Did he change his shirt? Is his hair combed?_ He turned and looked at her as if he somehow felt her eyes on him. "So uh.. are you going to try and find that knight in shining armor?" he asked her hoping her answer would be something that would reassure him a little. She chuckled and turned all the way towards him. "I'm not sure he'd be in the club. I'm thinking he's probably somewhere else in this city." She caught her breath a little as she noticed how he had been watching her. "You have that look again. Like you want to tell me something." she cocked her head curiously. He sucked in a breath and was thinking in his head how to start his sentence. He wanted to tell her what was really on his mind. "I uh..I figured out how to stabilize the energy source." _Great job, Banner_, he thought to himself. Her face lit up which brightened his melancholy mood. Her smile seemed to change her whole face brightening her eyes. "That's great Dr. Banner! That's great news. You were working so hard and finally some pay off." she hit his shoulder gently to emphasize her excitement.

"Well you helped a lot. I read over your notes with the theories on everything. You did a great job, really." he gave her a small smile and let his eyes meet hers. She blushed a little "Thanks, Dr. Banner I mean coming from you that really means something." Kate walked back over to them and put her arm around Mettys shoulders. "Well I redeemed myself with him. You were right he's very sweet and he seems very nervous." Metty nodded her head "Yeah he can be a little shy. We should probably get this night started." Kate walked over to Pepper and started chatting with her as the limo pulled up out front. Dr. Banner cleared his throat a little. "I guess you should get going." he put his hands into his pockets. "Yeah I guess so. I'll see you tomorrow morning?" he nodded and then joked with her "Of course unless you indulge too much tonight." She scoffed at him. "I'll see you tomorrow morning, Dr. Banner." As she walked away towards the limo outside he caught the scent of violets in the air again. She got into the limo with Kate, Pepper and Natasha unsure of what to expect from tonight. She had a mix of apprehension and excitement rolling around in her stomach.

When they arrived in front of the club Happy walked around to the side of the vehicle and opened the door for them. "Thank you, Happy." Pepper said politely as they got out of the limo one by one. Kate linked her arm with Metty's. "Aren't you excited? This is going to be so much fun!" They followed Pepper and Natasha into the club. Inside it was dark with colored lights on the walls. The music wasn't loud but had a deep base to it. There was a lowered portion of the room with comfortable looking couches and small coffee tables spread around on a plush carpet. Towards the left was a bar and around the room were scattered tables. Most were occupied with couples and groups of friends. There was a dance floor in the back of the room that was filled with people moving along with the music.

They grabbed a table where Peppers friends were standing around. Introductions were made and Natasha offered to go order everyone some drinks. Metty hadn't planned on drinking but figured one would at least help her loosen up a little. Everyone was talking at the table and after a while a few guys came over and started to chat with a few of them. Kate was talking with a taller blonde haired guy. He asked her to dance and she leaned over towards Metty "Hey I'll be back, okay?" she smiled and big and took the suitors hand and moved toward the dance floor. Natasha came back and started to look around the room. Soon a waiter came over and set glasses down in front of everyone. Pepper started to sip her glass of white wine. Natasha had ordered two Vodka Collins for her and Metty. She grabbed her drink and sipped it slowly. She had no interest in getting drunk at all tonight but didn't want to be rude towards Natasha. Metty started to people watch for a little when she noticed a dark haired guy was watching her from the bar. She glanced around and started to feel a little uncomfortable. He was leaning against the bar and finally stood up straight and started to walk towards her. "You look like you're bored." he said to her as he stood next to her.

She wasn't used to guys approaching her unless they were asking for last classes notes. "Do I?" was all she managed to think of as a response. "I'm Jerome." he offered his hand for her to shake. She took it and shook his hand out of politeness. She wasn't sure if she wanted to talk to him. _That's not hair, Met._ She scolded herself. _He's being nice. You can at least talk to him._ "Metis..everyone just calls me Metty." He smiled coyly "Ah..Titaness of wisdom and deep thought, right?" she was genuinely taken aback. The only other person who knew what her name meant was Dr. Banner. And of course he would know. "Uh yes.. That's right. My parents were kind of..hippies..They believe that a persons name is what ultimately helps decide their path in life. They wanted me to be driven by my wisdom and mind." He nodded "So are you?" She couldn't believe she was actually talking with a guy and not embarrassing herself. He actually seemed interested in her. "Well I guess so. I'm in school right now. Studying chemistry and math. So I guess so far so good." she laughed and he did as well.

He was very handsome from what she could tell in the dim lights. He had dark hair and crystal blue eyes. He must have had a cleft pallet as a baby because he had the scar on his lip. She talked about how she worked alongside Dr. Banner and what they usually accomplished in the lab. He seemed very interested and it made her feel a little more confident. "I mean ultimately I'd love to work for SHIELDS research and development area. But we'll see where this job with Dr. Banner leads me. I think he wants to offer me a full time position with him after I graduate next year." She smiled as she thought about working alongside him all the time. They made a great team and she felt like there was still so much she could learn from him. "Oh you work for Bruce? That must be pretty interesting." Metty looked at him quizzically. Jerome spoke so casually about him "Do you know him somehow?" she asked him. He shook his head quickly "Oh no..I just uhh.I've read a lot about him. I'm a huge fan of his work." he justified.

The two of them talked for a while as Metty tried to avoid the looks Kate was giving her. He finally asked what she knew was coming. "So can I get your number? Maybe call you sometime?" Metty's heart started to race a little and the butterflies were making their appearance in her stomach again. Her voice was a little shaky as she responded to his question "Yeah of..of course." she turned around to grab a napkin but realized she didn't even have a pen with her. When she turned towards him to mention this he already had one out in his hand "Here you go" he said quietly as he watched her. She felt a little nervous since she knew he was watching her. Her hand shook a bit while she wrote her name and number on the napkin and handed it to him. "Great, thanks. Can I call you tomorrow? Are you busy?" she swallowed and shook her head. "No..I mean I have school but I'm free after classes since he doesn't really give me a specific time to be there." he chuckled a little at how fast she was talking "You seem nervous. Do I make you feel nervous?" He was much taller than she was and she had to look up at him in order to meet his eyes. She wasn't positive but she had a feeling he had moved closer to her.

Metty cleared her throat more so to buy herself time to think of how to answer. "No..I mean..A little..I'm just not used to, you know, talking and flirting and all that." she absent-mindedly scratched her arm. He just smiled at her and folded the napkin placing it in the pocket of his sport coat. "Well I'll call you tomorrow." he winked at her which made her face feel hot and walked away. Metty turned towards her table again to find Pepper and Kate staring at her. Natasha was watching the man walk away through the crowd of people. "I thought you were dancing? When did you get back?" Metty tried to steer the conversation from the inevitable. Kate just smiled mischievously at her "I got back long enough to see this whole thing go down. What's his name? He was cute wasn't he? You gave him your number didn't you!" Kate was grabbing Metty's arm excitedly. Metty took a deep breath trying to ease the butterflies in her stomach. She wasn't sure if the people in the club were dancing to the bass of the music or to her own heartbeat at this point.

Jerome made his way through the crowd of people and went through the front door of the club. Outside there was a black limo waiting for him. As he approached it the driver came around the side and opened the door for him. "Thanks" he said as he stepped inside. He sat on the seat across from a few other men. One in particular was smoking a large cigar and he spoke with a heavy Russian accent "Did you find her?" smoke seeped out of his mouth as he spoke. Jerome simply pulled out the napkin that Metty had scribbled her number onto. He held it between his middle and index fingers so the older gentleman could see. The older man took another puff off of his cigar and gave a deep laugh "Excellent..I can already tell this is all going to work out perfectly."


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors note: Took me forever to get this chapter posted. I hope you all somewhat enjoy it and I apologize for the hiatus. The holidays took up a lot of my free time and I wasn't able to get onto my computer like I wanted. Forgive me? :D This chapter isn't as long as I'd like it to be but I also didn't want to cram a lot in here so I think I found a pretty decent part to break it up.**

Chapter 5

They were out very late that night and by the end of it Metty had to help Kate in and out of the limousine. Happy offered to help carry her upstairs to their apartment but she explained how this happened a lot on the weekends. Kate had quite a lot to drink while at the club and it hit her fully while they were driving home. Metty spent most of the night holding Kate's hair back as she got sick into the toilet. It was almost 3:30 in the morning when Kate finally crawled into her room and fell asleep face down on her bed. Metty walked into the living room and sat down on the couch after cleaning the bathroom up. She didn't feel like moving or changing her clothes after she got comfortable. She closed her eyes and fell into a restless sleep full of blue-eyed men turning into huge green monsters wearing lab coats.

The sun peeked through the curtains too soon as it landed on her closed eyes. The sound of Kate fumbling around in her room reminded her of the previous nights events. Did she really give her number to him? Was he even going to call her? She doubted it but it wasn't enough to trump the excitement of the potential it all held. Kate finally emerged from her room wrapped up in her quilt "Could you please turn the sun off?" she croaked out as she collapsed onto a chair. Metty laughed at her "You look like you died and were reincarnated as a rag." Kate didn't respond besides flipping her off from under her blanket. "You looked like you were enjoying yourself. What was his name?" Kate asked poking her head from under her quilt. Metty smiled and played with her hands "Jerome..He's supposed to call me today. He wants to get together." Kate gave her a mischievous smile "You're not afraid he'll get jealous?.." Metty gave her a questioning look. "Who?" Kates face fell into a 'duh' expression "Dr. Banner of course." she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't understand where you get this idea from, Kate. I'm not interested in him..he's too old for me anyway." she started picking at a thread on one of the pillows laying near her on the couch. Her tone of voice sounding more like she was trying to convince herself more than Kate. Kate just smiled "Fine, fine. I wont say anything else about it." she mocked a key turning on her mouth and threw it behind her. Kate stood up and walked to their small kitchen to make herself some coffee.

Metty sat there on the couch deep in thought staring at the tv. A million things were going through her head at one time. Then she heard her cell phone ring from her bedroom. Kate poked her head out and looked at Metty with a smile on her face. Kate made a dash for Mettys bedroom and Metty flew off the couch after her. Unfortunately she didn't get there in time to prevent Kate from picking up the phone. "Hi you've reached Metis' personal assistant if you're super hot press-" Metty wrestled the phone from her "Hello?" she swatted at Kate as she fixed the phone to her ear. "Uh Metis?" Metty felt butterflies start to move into her stomach. "Hi Jerome. You'll have to excuse my roommate. She isn't well in the head." she laughed "Ah okay.." he seemed unsure of how to react. "Well I was just calling to see if you wanted to get together today. Maybe grab a coffee or something?" She froze a little from excitement and then remembered it was probably a good idea to answer his question. "Yeah that sounds great. What time? I have to be at work in a few hours.." she hoped this wouldn't post-pone things with him. "How about in a half hour? We can meet at the cafe down the street from your work. You know-" she finished for him while smiling "Brewed Awakening." Dr. Banner loved their bagels there and they always had one ready for her to pick up when she stopped by in the mornings. He never wanted cream cheese, though, always just a plain bagel. Metty shook her head to try and re-focus her thoughts on the conversation. "Great so we'll meet there in a half hour. I'll see you then." she spoke quietly "Yeah see you." he disconnected and she put the phone down on the bed carefully. Turning to Kate with a huge smile "That was him wasn't it!" she asked excitedly. Metty just nodded unable to form any words. "This is great! We have to pick out an outfit..we only have 30 minutes..though I've done more with you in less time-" she started rambling and digging through Mettys clothes tossing the ones she didn't like over her shoulder.

"Kate I can dress myself! I don't want to wear something too revealing and give him the wrong idea." Kates shoulders fell "I'm not saying you have to dress slutty! Just try and wear something not so...so..frumpy." Kate finally left after Metty refused to let her do her hair or makeup. She settled on a pair of light purple pants and a grey sweater. She walked out of her room and towards the front door where she grabbed her jacket before leaving down the stairs and out to the sidewalk. The butterflies in her stomach started to awaken as she got closer to the cafe. She started to feel nervous when she didn't see him waiting outside of the cafe. She pulled the door open and walked in the smell of the freshly ground coffee invading her sense of smell. Looking around she spotted him in the back of the cafe at a table. He had been watching her as she came in and waved to her as she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear as she walked up to him. He stood up politely to greet her as she approached the little table. "Hey.." he said with his hands in his pockets. She smiled at him wow, he's much cuter than I thought. They both sat down at the table together. "I didn't order anything. Wasn't sure if you were a coffee girl or a tea girl." he smiled at her. She laughed "I think I'm feeling like tea this morning. English breakfast tea." she nodded. He got up and walked to the barrista to place the order for them. He sat back down after he placed the order "So you don't seem like someone who would normally be out club-hopping." She cleared her throat a little "Yeah I was sort of persuaded into that whole thing."

He chuckled "Yeah well I'm glad you went along with them." he wasn't smiling. Giving her a devious look making the butterflies flutter around in her stomach again. One of the workers at the cafe approached with two cups. One with hot water and a tea bag the other filled with some sort of latte. She smiled as Metty thanked her. "So what about you? Are you someone who would normally be found at clubs?" she asked him. He shook his head "Nope. Was suckered into it like you by my friends. They say I should get out more. I don't 'socialize' enough," he shrugged "Whatever that means, you know?" she laughed and dipped the tea bag into the hot water. "Actually yeah I do know what you mean. My roommate, the blonde girl who was with me last night," "The drunk one?" he asked. She made a face of agreement "Uh yeah..she thinks I don't date enough. That all I do is schoolwork and then go to work with Dr. Banner...which I guess is mostly what I do.." she brought the cup to her mouth and blew into it before taking a small sip. "Nothing wrong with that." he agreed. "So what do you do for a living? I don't think I got the chance to ask you last night." she set the cup down. "Oh I'm a freelance writer. Just sort of write articles for small magazines and things like that. I make a decent living." "Oh that's pretty cool. I wish I could write..I tend to get too technical about things and over explain everything." she chuckled at herself. "You're still in school right? How's that going?" he asked her. She was amazed at how comfortable she felt with him. Small talk never came this easy for her unless she was talking with Dr. Banner. "Yeah I am. I do well.. I always feel so cocky saying that but I just really enjoy school. I have exams coming up, one today actually, and then I'll be off for a few weeks." he gave her surprised expression "So that means we could see more of each other, right? I'd like to take you out sometime. Somewhere quieter of course." He kept eye contact with those crystal blues eyes of his. She could feel her face getting hotter "I'd like that.." she stirred her drink to give her hands something to do.

"Do you like French food at all? I know a great place." he kept his gaze on her. "I love French food. It's actually my favorite cuisine." What are the odds that he'd say French she thought to herself. There was a small silence between them as he continued to watch her body language. "So do you enjoy working for Dr. Banner? The man is a genius. I'm sure you learn tons from him." She nodded in agreement "Yeah he's great. I mean he amazes me all the time with some of the things he comes up with. He's just.." she sighed "Amazing." Jerome laughed a little "Uh oh, am I going to have to compete for your affections?" she gave him an embarrassed grin. "No it's not like that at all. Our relationship is very professional. I just..admire him a lot. That's all" she took a sip of her tea "Working with him has been great though." "Has he ever changed in front of you before?" Jerome asked calmly. The question took her by surprise. That's a pretty bold question to ask someone you just met even if they work for Dr. Banner/The Hulk. She shook her head "Nope. He has pretty good control over it, actually. I've only ever seen news footage of it." He took in her answer and seemed to be turning things over in his head.

"Well I'm really glad you were able to meet up with me today. You said you had to be at work after this, right?" he asked her. Metty looked over at the clock above the cash registers. "Oh yeah. I should really get going." she stood up from her seat along with him. He smiled at her and took a step closer. "So can I take you out tomorrow night?" he smiled at her and let his eyes bore into hers. She felt overwhelmed and light on her feet. "Yeah that would be great. I live right around here actually." They started to walk out of the cafe when she remembered Dr. Banner. "Oh I should really pick up a bagel for him. He loves the bagels here." Jerome followed her to the counter as she ordered and paid for one and a cup of coffee. "You're always thinking of him aren't you?" she shrugged innocently "Of course. Plus I'm pretty sure if I didn't bring him at least this the man would never even eat." They walked out of the cafe together and down the street. "My apartment is down that way. I'm on the second level 2C" she motioned with her handing holding the brown paper bag. "Sounds good. I'll pick you up around 7:30?" he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek again. She felt warm and elated as she watched him walk down the street. She turned on her heel and walked towards the Avengers Tower.

Natasha was sitting at a computer. She was typing furiously trying to dig up anything she could on Mettys suitor from the club. It was more difficult without knowing his name. There was something she didn't like about that man and she wanted to know why. Her instincts were always right with these sort of things. Somewhere she had seen him before but she couldn't put her finger on it. Clint walked into the room and came up behind her "Doing some extra credit are we?" She jumped a little. She hated when he snuck up on her especially when she was focused on something like this. She closed out the windows she had open and spun her chair around to face him. "I just thought I'd do some extra studying." she said as she stood up and strode out of the room.

Jerome walked down the sidewalk and pulled out his cellphone quickly dialing a number. "It's me. Yeah it went fine. No but she seems to really like him. I think it could benefit us in the long run." he listened to the response on the other end "We're going out tomorrow night. I'll be able to find out a little more. I'm going to ask her to bring me into the tower. See if I can't dig up more information. Or at least see where they stand with each other. I know she'll be able to lead us to him." he clicked the phone shut and continued his way down the sidewalk.

As Metty arrived at the tower she sighed audibly trying to relieve her nerves and release the butterflies that had arrived in her stomach again. She had a grin plastered on her face as she entered the building and said her good mornings to everyone she passed. The elevator was opened as someone walked off so she quickly jumped in. It brought her to her floor and she walked down the hall that led to Dr. Banners lab and put in her pass-code. Opening the door she found him leaning over what looked like a hologram of a strand of DNA. She set her things down, "What are you working on?" she seemed to startle him because he jumped a bit. Then hastily turned the hologram off from his computer. "Oh it's nothing. Just something I had in my head." he looked up at her "You look a little...flustered." She touched her face and could feel the warmth on them. "Oh..Um..well I met up with a guy I met at that club. We went out for coffee this morning and he was just really nice and..refreshing to talk to." He felt a strange pang of emotion that he couldn't put his finger on. Jealousy? Jealous of what? He thought to himself. He wanted to be happy for her but it was somehow so hard to put on a smile. "What's his name?" was all he was able to say. She sat down and opened some of her text books that she had left in his lab. "Jerome." she smiled a little thinking back to this morning.

He shifted uncomfortably where he was standing. "What are you here for? Don't you have finals coming up?" he asked abruptly. It came out meaner than he had planned. She looked a little shocked "Well yeah but I can work and study. I figured you'd need me around here" she flipped the pages in her text books as she spoke. "I'm honestly not that worried for my finals. I'm feeling really, really confident." she smiled to herself as she looked over some notes. She looked up after a few moments realizing he hadn't said anything to her in response. "Your pupils are really, really dialated. Are you feeling okay?" she stood up and walked over to him. Dr. Banner was breathing hard as he started to mull things over in his head. Angry over the fact that he could never seem to show her what she meant to him. Angry that guys like Jerome would only continue to make their ways into her life unless he did something. Beads of sweat formed around his temple and forehead "I'm fine," he croaked out. His breathing evened out and he felt a little embarrassed for reacting this way. He tried so hard to hide the other side of himself from her. "I'm sorry..I didn't mean to get so..." his sentence trailed off as he found himself unable to finish it. He grabbed a towel and dabbed his forehead with it. She watched him with a bit of concern on her face. "So what are you working on?" she looked down and moved some papers around. "Oh nothing..I was just going over a few old things" he collected the papers into a messy pile and shoved them into a folder. "It's nothing important.." He seemed agitated so she left him alone about it though she didn't believe him. Working with him for three years allowed her to recognize when to prod him for answers and when to walk away. This was one of those instances where she would just walk away.


	6. Chapter 6

**Okay so another hiatus between updates, sorry guys! This chapter is pretty long so hopefully that makes up for it lol. It was either split this part into two short chapters that I wouldn't be happy with or make it into one long super chapter! So I decided on a super chapter :D Hopefully you guys enjoy it. I actually had a fun time writing this one.  
**

**Chapter 6**

"I swear, Clint, there's something not right here. I can feel it in my gut and you know as well as anyone to trust your gut." Natasha said to him as she typed away at the computer. She was looking through SHIELDs criminal database trying to find something on one Jerome. Clint wasn't sure how to feel about Natasha's sudden obsession in Mettys new suitor but he knew better than anyone else to just go along with Natasha unless you wanted some serious damage inflicted upon you. "I just feel like I've seen him somewhere before.. This would be so much easier if I knew more about him...even just a last name would help.." she said quietly to herself.

Metty and Dr. Banner sat in silence for some time. Metty focused on her notes in front of her and Dr. Banner focused more on where Metty had been this morning. She glanced up thinking to herself when she realized she had forgotten to give him the bagel she bought for him. The little tiff they had distracted her from her usually routine when she showed up for work in the morning. "Oh...here. Breakfast." she got up and walked the small brown paper bag over to him. He looked up and reached out for it and sighed "Thanks. Metis, look I.." she put her hand up and waved him off. "It's fine, Dr. Banner. You don't need to apologize for anything." she gave him a big grin that put him at ease. He noticed she usually had that affect on him. He unraveled the bag and she glanced around the room and then simply stated "This place is a mess.." He looked around before taking a bite of the bagel "No it ishn't." he said through chews. "Yes it is..What's in this closet?" she walked over to what she figured was a storage closet. When she opened the door she was unpleasantly surprised. There were boxes stacked on top of boxes. "Oh. My. Gosh. When was the last time this was cleaned out?" she walked into the room and peaked into a couple of poorly closed boxes. The ones that were open had papers and files in them. Dr. Banner got up and walked over to her. "I don't know. This is all the stuff from my old office. Before I moved into the tower." he scratched the back of his head.

She sat down on a stack of boxes and crates and started to dig through some of the mess. It was mostly old reports on work he'd done for the military. A lot of the files involved information on gamma radiation and a few weapons he'd constructed but most seemed to have never made it past the prototypes. She looked up at him in the doorway "Are you busy?" he shook his head "No not really." She smiled "Well now you are. This is what we're going to tackle today," she stated in her take-charge tone. "I should probably go get the industrial shredder.." "Wait a second. You're the assistant I'm the boss. Since when do you get to order me around?" he crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her over the rims of his glasses with a smile on his face. She snapped a folder shut, "Since I discovered this treasure trove you've got in here." She got up and walked past him to get the industrial shredder. The confidential information would stay in the lab but the useless stuff, mainly the old reports and newspaper clippings oddly enough, would get shredded. It was heavy but luckily moved easily on its wheels. She pushed the shredder into the closet and sat back on the boxes she now designated as her chair. "I'll need you to look things over before I destroy them. In case you want to keep some things. Although we can probably transfer a lot of this into the computer and destroy the physical copies." she said as she dug around through things.

"Dr. Banner?" she asked as she noticed he was staring off into space. He shook his head "Yeah that's fine." was all he responded with. She didn't seem to notice anything wrong with his response and kept digging. He knew that in these boxes would be information of what happened to him. Why he is the way he is. All the information she could ever need on 'The Other Guy'. Sure people knew of the Hulk knew that he and Dr. Banner were one in the same. People saw the outside force of it all. The angry, green giant that tended to make a mess of things. No one knew about the other side of the coin. How it all came to be. He started to do his part and sift through the papers and folders. Throwing some things into a pile to 'keep' and others into a pile for shredding. Dr. Banner kept glancing over at Metis waiting for her to stumble across something about his past. She had picked up a folder and opened it to reveal newspaper clippings. Most read something along the lines of "**GREEN MENACE DESTROYS NEW YORK CITY**" or "**GOVERNMENT EXPERIMENT GONE WRONG?**" Her brow was furrowed as she read through the articles that went along with each headline.

After a long moment of silence which involved him pretending to read through things she looked up at him. He fully prepared himself for her to put in her two weeks that second. Instead she threw the newspaper she was reading, along with the others, into the shred pile and then simply said "Interesting stuff." as if she had just read the weather report. "That's it?" he accidentally said out loud. "What?" she questioned him. Even if it slipped out he might as well answer the question. "I'm assuming the article in the paper and the reports in there talked about everything. Everything that happened." She looked over at him as the silence hung between them. "I knew what I was getting involved with when I applied for this job. I knew who I would be working for. This," she picked up the paper "Is just some third party crap written by story hungry journalists. It's not going to change my opinion about you." she looked at her watch and realized she had class in half an hour. She stood up to leave "You know how to use this, right?" she pointed to the shredder. He nodded still processing what she had said to him. He felt happy and content with everything. "I have class but I'll be over afterwards to help finish this up." she grabbed her things and walked out of the lab.

Dr. Banner spent most of the day sifting through all the boxes deciding what to keep and what to throw out. He didn't realize what time it was until Metty walked back into the lab. She placed her bag hard on the table in her usual fashion to let him know she was there. She made her way back to the closet and noticed that he actually made a small dent in everything. "Not bad. It actually looks like progress now." she chuckled. He turned towards her direction "How'd the finals go?" she scoffed "Very well. I told you I felt confident." He stood up and looked around the storage room. "How long are you staying today?" he asked turning to face her. "Well Jerome is taking me out tonight. I have to meet him around 7:30 at my place. So I'll probably leave here around 5. Is that okay?" The high he had been riding on from her neutral reaction to the news articles about him disappeared when she mentioned Jerome. He made a face at his name making her question him. "What's wrong? I usually only stay until 5 anyway.." she leaned against a table. "I just don't know if I trust this guy is all." he shut the door to the storage closet. She laughed "You've never even met him! You can't make such a harsh assumption on him. That's not fair, Dr. Banner." He sighed wishing he could tell her what was really on his mind. "I mean can you really trust someone you met at a club?" he offered as an excuse. "Where else am I supposed to meet someone? Here?" she cocked an eyebrow at him.

_But you met him, didn't you?_ That small voice in the back of her head spoke to her. The same voice that always tried to convince her there was something more in front of her. The same voice that she always ignored. She finally spoke up to break the silence "Do you want some coffee? I can put some on." He nodded and sat down at his desk. She left the lab and walked towards the small kitchen. Natasha was sitting on the couch watching tv though she didn't seem to be paying much attention to it. Realizing Metty was behind her Natasha stood up and strolled over casually. What better way to find out about this mystery guy than to go straight to the source? "How are things?" she said making Metty jump a little. "Sorry..you startled me. Things are good. How are things with you?" she asked Natasha as she scooped coffee grounds into a filter. Natasha ignored the question "When are you seeing this Jerome guy again?" Metty made a questioning face and turned to the spy "What? Tonight...why?" she asked slowly. Natasha ignored her questions and continued with her own "Are you bringing him over after your date?" Metty set a mug down "Did Dr. Banner put you up to this? I wasn't planning on bringing him over. We're just going out to dinner. I just met the guy." she stared at the coffee maker willing it to brew faster than it was.

When it was ready she quickly poured some into Dr. Banners mug. She had gotten him this mug years ago as a gift. It read "KEEP CALM AND DO SCIENCE" on it. He had gotten a genuine kick out of it and had been using it since. Metty poured plain hot water into her own mug and grabbed a tea bag. She turned to Natasha and half jokingly said "And before you ask I don't know his blood type and he most likely is an organ donor." and walked back to the lab. Natasha crossed her arms and leaned against the counter. She was determined to find out about this guy and either act upon the bad feeling in her gut or lay it to rest.  
Metty entered the lab again carrying everything over to Dr. Banner who was sitting back at his desk. She laid the coffee down in front of him and set her own mug down. She sat down and placed the tea bag into the mug opening up her planner labeled BANNER. "Don't forget you have a meeting with some investors tomorrow. I also scheduled you a dentist appointment." she closed the book and sipped her tea. He looked up "Did you?" she nodded her head "You haven't been in about 2 years. You're supposed to go every 6 months." He laughed "Yeah I thought it was something like that." he picked the mug up and took a sip from it watching her. She was looking down at the planner scribbling a few things into it. Her leg was bouncing up and down quickly "You're nervous about something." he stated. She looked up at him. "You bounce your leg when you're nervous." _How many other little things could he possibly know about you? That obviously means something._ That small voice made another appearance inside of her. "Yeah I guess I'm just nervous for tonight. The last date I had ended..well you remember." He kept a straight face "Yeah you threw up on my shoes."

She stared at him horrified from hearing him bring that up. "Relax..I'm not mad about it. That stuff happens in these sort of relationships." she chuckled "Yeah the assistant frequently pukes on the bosses shoes. It's like an unwritten law." She looked at the clock over on his desk which read 4:45. "I have to get going. It's going to take Kate at least an hour to dress me. Then another for me to convince her I don't need any make up." "Yeah you don't need any." escaped from his mouth. She could feel her cheeks flush a little "Thanks. That was..sweet. I'll see you tomorrow morning." she smiled at him and left the lab. Dr. Banner took his glasses off and leaned back in his chair. Placing his hands on his face he sighed loudly.

Metty was lucky enough to convince Kate that she didn't need to wear any makeup for tonight. She wanted everything to stay simple since this was their first real date together. She didn't protest, though, when Kate offered her navy blue dress to her. It was form fitting and stopped mid thigh. The neck line buttoned but left a space on the chest exposing a little skin. She turned this way and that way in the mirror making sure she looked okay in it. There was a knock at the door and Kate ran to go get it. Metty took one more look at herself and took a deep breath to calm her nerves. The butterflies had arrived again and were now making their home in the pit of her stomach. She grabbed her clutch bag and headed towards the door. Jerome stood in the living room with Kate. He had dressed in an attractive sport coat with black slacks. She approached him and he bent down to kiss her cheek "You look great. Ready?" she nodded and turned to Kate "I'll be home late okay? I have my keys." Kate smiled wide "Oh you two have a great time. I wont wait up!" she pinched Metty's cheek who laughed "Okay see you"

They left the apartment and walked down the steps towards a limo parked on the street. Jerome got to the vehicle first and opened the door for her. Stunned she slipped into the car and sat down. He followed in after and sat in the seat across from her. She couldn't believe he had gotten a limo for them to ride in for the night. "You're a writer, correct?" she questioned him. He nodded "Yeah..well I did really well this year. Had some extra cash. Figured why not spend it on tonight?" he moved to the space next to her and placed his arm on the seat behind arrived at the restaurant about 15 minutes later. He had reserved a private table for them towards the back of the room. They spent the evening getting to know each other better. She talked about coming to New York City her freshman year, her family back in Washington, and where she hoped to go in the future after she finished her degree. He went into more detail about his job though he skimmed over any questions about family. She shrugged it off. Not everyone had a good relationship with their family and maybe he chose to not talk about it.

"Where do you see yourself going with Dr. Banner?" he asked her after taking a sip of his water. The wording of the question took her by surprise. Professionally. He means your job. "I like to think he'll keep me around after I graduate. I mean ultimately it's his decision but I like to think I've made some sort of positive impression on him." she took a bite of her dinner. "You'd want to be his secretary even after you graduate?" The question sounded a bit harsh and she got a bit defensive "I'm not his secretary I'm his assistant. And even then I'd consider myself more of a colleague." He put his hands up in front of him. "I didn't mean to offend you. I'm sorry, the question came out wrong. I think he'd be crazy not to offer you some sort of full time position with him."  
The date ran well into the evening and he finally dropped her off at her apartment around 1 in the morning. They walked up the stairs together and she stopped at her door digging into her clutch bag for her set of keys. She looked up and found him staring at her with those blue eyes of his. "I had a nice time." she played with the keys in her hands looking away from him and those eyes. "Yeah me too." She finally looked up at him and he moved in for the kill. His lips pressed against hers. She closed her eyes and fell into him his arm wrapping around her waist. They parted and her eyes fluttered open. "Goodnight" she squeaked out. Jerome winked at her and walked down the steps towards the limo. When Metty finally got into her apartment Kate was laying on the couch watching t.v. She sat up instantly "How was it? Your cheeks are pink. He kissed you didn't he?!" Metty just gave her friend a sly smile and wandered to her room calling it a night.

As the weeks moved on Metty saw more and more of Jerome. Natasha had stopped bugging her with questions about the man but wasn't about to let up on her detective work. The night Metty decided to bring Jerome around the tower with her Natasha and Clint were out on a mission together so she unfortunately lost her chance to question him.

"I spend most of my time on the 11th floor of the tower. It's where the lab is and there's a really nice sitting room there too." Metty explained to Jerome as she watched the screen in the elevator as it switched to 11. The doors opened and they both exited together. Pepper, Tony and Steve were sitting on the couches. Steve and Tony discussing something while Pepper went over some documents most likely for the meeting scheduled later. Pepper was the first to look up she gave the two a smile. "You must be Jerome." she stood and offered her hand to him. He shook it, "I am. And I'm going to guess you're Pepper." she nodded and then smacked Tony on the back of the head playfully. He and Steve stood up to introduce themselves. "Nice to meet you both. Big fan. Huge fan." Jerome told them with a huge grin on his face. "I'm going to assume Dr. Banner is in the lab?" Metty asked Pepper. "Of course he is. You're the only one that can get him to come out." she crossed her arms over her chest and smiled at Metty. It was almost as if Dr. Banner was making a point otherwise because at that moment he walked into the room holding his empty mug. "Speak of the devil" Metty said to him. "Dr. Banner this is Jerome." she motioned to him. "I can't believe I'm shaking the hand of Dr. Banner. The Hulk himself," Jerome said excitedly "Well obviously not The Hulk himself since you're currently Dr. Banner but in essence The Hulk" he was talking quickly surprising Metty over his fan-boy reaction. "Uh nice to meet you." Dr. Banner said awkwardly. He looked at Steve and Tony who just shrugged at him.

"I was just giving him a small tour of the place. Showing him where I spent a good chunk of my life." she stuck her tongue out playfully to Dr. Banner. He returned with a cheeky grin. "well any friend of Mettys is a friend of ours. You're always welcome to stop in and visit her while she's here." Pepper said to Jerome. "You'll have to excuse us, though. Tony, Bruce and myself have a phone conference to attend." she motioned to the two men. Bruce exchange pleasantries with Jerome again as he left the room but not before giving Metty a glance. Try and be happy, Banner he though to himself. Steve gave Jerome a rather unintentionally hard pat on the back before leaving to do a little training. Jerome stuck his hands into his pockets and turned to Metty "So? Can I see the lab?" he asked. She bit her lip briefly, mulling the idea over in her head. "I don't know. It's sort of..confidential. I mean he's never said that it's off limits but you do have to have a passcode to get in. So that sort of says it for itself.." she was trying to justify things to herself more than anything.

"Aw come on. Just real quick. Who would even know? It's not like there's eyes all over this place, right?" he elbowed her playfully in the side. "Actually," she laughed out "JARVIS is the AI of the house..he pretty much sees all. Don't you JARVIS?" The cool voice responded "Unless I'm instructed otherwise, Miss Luprie." Jerome had a face of shock "Okay so I guess this place does have eyes on everything. But even so he said himself if he's instructed otherwise. You can keep a secret right JARVIS?" he looked up at the ceiling as he spoke to the AI. Metty finally gave in. "Okay okay. Just a real quick peak okay?" she was walking towards the hall and the entrance to the lab. When she got there she lifted her hand to the keypad but hesitated before pressing in her code. She turned to Jerome "I'm sorry...could you possibly turn away?," she felt bad but knew better than to feel that way. "It's just..I trust you..but I'm really not supposed to hand the passcode out. I mean Kate doesn't even know it." Jerome waved her away "It's fine. I'll turn." He turned his body a bit and took his cellphone out while she pressed the code in. She opened the door and walked inside holding it open for him.

"Well this is it.." she said to him. She wasn't sure if he was expecting some grandeur lab with machines everywhere, beakers and test tubes filled with funny colored liquids. There were a few machines towards the back but Dr. Banner was mostly focused on research for new energy sources for Tony's suits and cleaner, sustainable energy for the tower and hopefully someday the world. Jerome whistled in approval "Nice digs. He wandered around a little and came to Metty's desk. He picked up a little stress ball and gave it a squeeze turning to her. "Ha yeah..He can get a little frustrating at times. We should really get going though.. I don't want to get into trouble or anything. Or get JARVIS into trouble." Jerome didn't protest and followed Metty out of the lab and back into the large sitting room. Metty gazed at him for a bit before asking him what was on her mind "So the Avengers are hosting this benefit ball thing in two days.. It's to help raise money for the children's hospital.. You're allowed to bring a date," she played with her hands as she felt her stomach flip a little. He turned and was watching her half expecting the next part. "I was just wondering if you'd like to come along. As my date, maybe?" He sighed "I'd love to," she smiled "But," then her heart sank. He noticed the sad look on her face. "I'm sorry I just have something I need to attend for my job. Working on a big story and I'm following a few leads. I don't know if I'd be back in time." he took her hands into his. "I'm really sorry, Metis. I'd go if I could." he gave her a small kiss on her nose. She looked up at him and smiled "It's fine. I completely understand. I'll just go stag with Kate." He tugged her arms around him "Are you sure?" he asked again. She simply nodded. She was hurt but it wasn't fair to expect him to say yes. She wasn't even sure what they actually were in regards to a relationship."Okay. Well let me get going. I told a friend I'd meet up with him later. Thanks for the tour. I'll show myself out." he gave her a peck on the lips and got into the elevator giving her one last wave before the doors shut.

The following day Metty had decided to go out shopping with Pepper and Kate to pick out gowns for the benefit the following night. Kate had caught wind that Steve Rogers would be there. This put a damper on Mettys plan of going stag with her friend. She couldn't stay mad with her,though, Steve had that affect on most girls. "Do you think he'd like this?" Kate said as she held up a dress to herself in front of a mirror. Metty turned and looked "Yeah that looks great.." she responded absentmindedly. She gave Kate a half smile which Kate took as if Metty had a negative opinion towards the dress "You hate it..I wasn't even sure if I liked the color anyway" she put the dress away on the wrack and continued looking through the others. Pepper had settled on a lovely red number. It had different pleats on the bottom half of the dress which gave it a flowing look. It looked amazing on her long figure when she had tried it on. Kate had finally found the winner when she pulled out a navy blue gown. Metty was half looking until her fingers dragged across silky material. She'd always loved the way silk felt on her hands. She pulled the gown down and stared at the deep violet material. Trying it on got a positive reaction out of Pepper and Kate "Oh that looks amazing on you, Met" Kate said with hands clasped in front of her. "It really compliments your skin tone." Pepper agreed. She looked at herself in the mirror and had to admit she loved the way the material fit against her body. She didn't feel exposed or embarrassed to wear the dress. When Metty looked at the price tag, though, she reconsidered.

"Consider this a Christmas gift from Tony and I." Pepper said sweetly. "Pepper that's too much. I couldn't accept this." Metty tried to argue but it was all for naught. When Pepper made up her mind on things there was no reconsidering or convincing her otherwise. Especially in this situation. The girls made their way back to the tower to show off their bounty. Steve looked to be enjoying himself discussing the next nights plans with Kate. And much to Kate's relief he loved the dress that she had picked out. Metty walked out of the room carrying her dress heading down the hall towards the lab where she knew Dr. Banner would be. He was leaning back in his chair with his hand on his chin deep in thought. He looked up as she entered. "I wasn't expecting you in today. Thought you were out shopping with Pepper." she walked over to her computer and clicked a few things checking her e-mail. "We just got back. Found a dress. Kate found one too as did Pepper." He sat back up in his chair. "Did you find one?" he asked her. She tapped the bag laying on her chair with her free hand. "Wait..that's tomorrow right? I don't have a tux." he started to look around his desk for his planner where he kept phone numbers. "I already took care of it, Dr. Banner." she stated. "Oh. Well how.." "I have your measurements written in my planner." she answered before he had the chance to ask. "Well where.." "It's hanging up in your room." she finished with her computer and stood up "That's why you hired me right?" she put her hands on her hips. He gave a small laugh crossing his arms over his chest."Yeah I guess so." She wagged her finger at him jokingly "You have to promise, though, that you wont roll the sleeves up on the shirt that came with it. Not that I think that doesn't look good on you but the shirt was expensive." Was that a compliment? I think that might have been a compliment he thought to himself.

"Okay," Metty sighed "Let me get out of here. I think Kate wants to coordinate her makeup with her gown and she'll probably want my input. I'll see you tomorrow, Dr. Banner." she grabbed the bag with the dress in it and left the lab. He sat back in his chair and thought to himself. She's always going above and beyond for you. She's supposed to do that, though. It's her job. But even so. It wouldn't hurt to do something nice for her. He picked up the phone on his desk and started to dial a number.

The next day the tower was buzzing with last minute arrangements being made for that evenings benefit ball. Metty had arrived early in the morning to assist Dr. Banner in his lab. After a few hours Pepper finally instructed JARVIS to let Metty know she had to get ready for the benefit and that Kate would be arriving soon. She left the lab and made her way to the guest room to change into her gown and wait for Kate to show up. She finally arrived and they both made their way back to the sitting room where they all usually congregated.

As she entered the living room Pepper walked over with a bouquet of violets and handed them to Metty. "These came from you..doesn't say who they're from though," she had a secretive smile on her face "But I think I may know who sent them." Metty took the flowers from her. They were the most gorgeous violets she had ever seen. Their delicate purple petals had almost a soft sheen to them and their green stems were wrapped with a piece of lace. She looked at the card which she read out loud " 'My favorite girls favorite flowers' Huh that's cute but..strange.." she said looking up at Pepper and the others. "What's so strange about flowers, Met? Jerome is crazy about you and he probably feels bad for not coming tonight." Kate said as she grabbed the card from Mettys hands. "No not that..I mean how did he know violets were my favorite?" she tried thinking back. "I'm sure you mentioned it offhand at some point. And a guy who can remember little details like that is a keeper." Kate said while elbowing Metty in the side playfully. Metty tried to think back but was sure she had never mentioned her love of violets. She decided to forget about it. Perhaps he picked up on her perfume that she always wore. That must be it. Finding a vase she filled it with water and arranged the flowers delicately into the neck.

"You might want to check on Bruce, Metty." Pepper called over to her while adjusting Tony's bow tie. Steve had entered the room as well and was chatting a little with Kate. Metty could tell he was a bit nervous. "I'd be surprised if he even took the tux out of the closet." Metty said to her as she walked down towards the lab. She entered the room and he was standing over his desk flipping through some things. The man worked until the very last possible second whenever they had to go anywhere. Metty couldn't help but catch her breath a little as she looked at him. He always looked so handsome in a tux. "Dr. Banner.." her voice was a little hoarse and caught in her throat. God, what is wrong with me? I've seen him in a tux before.. He looked up and then at his watch "Oh is is that late already?" He still hadn't tied the bow-tie and it lay draped over his neck. She approached him "Yeah we're leaving soon. Do you want me to..?" she motioned with her hands to the bow-tie around his neck. He remembered the bow-tie "Oh. Yeah..If you don't mind." She walked around to the other side of the desk and stood in front of him. He stood there quietly as she flipped his collar up and started to adjust the bow-tie around his neck. He broke the silence when he asked "Is Jerome joining us tonight?" Metty pursed her lips a little as she focused on her hands and sighed a little "No," she started "He had to take care of something for work. I was supposed to go with Kate but now I guess Steve is her date." the words were bitter in her throat and she felt bad for being angry with Kate.

"That's a shame.." He felt sad for Metty but didn't feel sad about not seeing Jerome's face for the whole night. "This isn't too tight is it?" she asked ignoring his comment about the Jerome situation. He shook his head. She finished the bow-tie and started to fold the collar of his shirt down becoming aware of how close her hands were to his neck. She could feel the heat rising up in her cheeks. She turned and grabbed his jacket off the chair and held it out for him. He placed his arms into it and she helped him into it adjusting it over his shoulders. He has very broad shoulders she thought mischievously. She shook her head a little "Okay. We should probably get going. I'm sure they're waiting for us." He gazed at her and allowed her to leave first following her out.

They all arrived in a stretch limousine of which Tony had discovered the free drinks inside. He was already cracking jokes and enjoying himself when they arrived to the entrance hall. Happy was about to open the door for them when Kate spoke up "Wait...if we're arriving in couples then Metty has to go with Dr. Banner. It'll look weird if we're walking in together and they come in separately." Metty shot her a look knowing exactly what she was doing. The others didn't seem to think anything of it other than it being a good idea. They got out one by one Pepper on Tony's arm, Kate clinging to Steve's with a huge smile on her face. Natasha was holding onto Clint's arm though she didn't show much expression on her face. Finally Metty and Dr. Banner stepped out. He looked over at her and offered his arm to her. She slid her hand around his forearm and wrested her other hand with it. They both seemed to take a deep breath at the same time and walked forward through the crowd of people. Flashes were going off from cameras and people were asking for comments for various magazines and papers. There were some reporters in front of cameras giving on scene footage of the nights festivities. The benefit that Stark Industries held was always a big to do.

She had been to a few benefits with Dr. Banner before but the ballrooms never cease to amaze her. It was close to Christmas so they had decorated the hall with giant wreaths and bows. Lights were dangling down from the high ceiling and twinkled to give the illusion of water dripping down from icicles. There was a large chandelier in the middle of the ceiling with different gems hanging from it. Pepper and Tony had made their way over to the bar to chat with an investor who was ordering a drink. Steve and Kate sat down at a table together with Clint and Natasha. Kate seemed to be in 7th heaven sitting next to Steve in a gorgeous gown. "Can I get you a drink?" Dr. Banner finally spoke up startling Metty a little. She let go of his arm suddenly feeling embarrassed for holding on so long "Oh yeah I'll have a gin-" "Ginger ale with two maraschino cherries." he finished with a smile. She bit her lip "Am I that predictable?" she laughed and made her way over to the table sitting next to Kate.

Metty watched Dr. Banner walk away from her and towards the bar. He started chatting with Pepper, Tony and a few other party goers who she assumed were a few of the interested investors. "Are you upset that Jerome couldn't make it?" Steve asked her. She turned to look at him and smiled "No not really. I'm enjoying myself and I understand if he was busy." Kate gave her a knowing look and Metty tried to act like she didn't know what she was getting at. Tony and Pepper made their way back over to the table and Pepper set her martini down on the table. "Who wants to join Tony and I on the dance floor?" she looked around the table. Kate was already standing up and grabbing Steves hand. He looked nervous. Dancing was something he never mastered back in his day and he still hadn't gotten it down now. She watched as he placed his hand on her waist and attempted to step in time with her. Clint and Natasha continued talking to one another in low voices ignoring Pepper's offer. "What about you two?" Pepper asked them. Dr. Banner was sipping his glass of club soda when she asked. "Come on..I'm sure the other guy has some sweet moves to show off." Tony said as he tried to pull Dr. Banner out of his chair. "Tony..cut it..cut it out. I'm sure Metty wouldn't feel comfortable dancing with her boss." Tony looked at him "Pepper did with me. Fine. You two wallflowers sit and enjoy those chairs." Pepper made an apologetic look for Tonys behavior but Dr. Banner just smiled at her. He knew how Tony could be sometimes and had grown used to it. "You know...I would have liked to have some say in that conversation." Metty said to him as she sipped her ginger ale. "I just didn't want to put you in a situation where you didn't feel comfortable." he justified trying to read her expression. "I wouldn't have felt uncomfortable. And besides I'm a good dancer. But I understand if you're terrible at it." she joked with him. He looked taken aback "Terrible dancer. Me? I don't step on feet and I can lead very well." he was acting very smug making her laugh. With that he stood up and offered his hand to her. She looked up at him grinning wide and took it following him to the dance floor. He placed his hand around the side of her back and took her hand in his. "Where did you learn your technique from?" she said while laughing at him. "Your hand goes here" She grabbed his hand and slid it down to her waist. "And my other hand..here" she rested her hand on his shoulder lightly.

"Where did you learn to dance?" he asked her. She thought back a little bit "I took some dance lessons my freshman year..to try and meet people. You know make friends." "Did it work out?" he asked her. She shrugged "Yeah I guess so. I met Kate." Metty looked over his shoulder where Steve and Kate were dancing slowly together. Steve looked to be enjoying himself but she could tell he was trying to find a balance between listening to Kate and watching his own feet. "You're right. You are a pretty good dance partner. I guess the lessons paid off." he said to her. "Thank you Dr. Banner." she was acting smug now. "You know.." he cleared his throat a little "You can call me Bruce. We're not in the lab right now...off the clock I guess you could say." she looked up at him a little surprised "Do you think that's entirely appropriate, Dr. Banner?" His grip tightened on her waist a little bit as he looked at her the material of her dress felt smooth under his fingers. "I think it's okay" he responded. She nodded her head slowly thinking things over. "OKay..Bruce." He chuckled "Is it weird?" she shrugged one shoulder "Not in the way I expected."

The evening progressed on at a slow pace. They danced and talked with everyone. Metty was introduced to a few possible investors in the company. She knew they were very close to sealing a deal with them. Metty was standing next to Bruce talking with Tony, Pepper and some others when Jerome snuck up behind her. His arm snaked around her waist making her jump a bit and turn around. "Jerome! What are you doing here? I thought you said you were working?" she gave him a hug which he returned. "I was able to knock off early. And I felt terrible for not coming along as your date. Dr. Banner, Tony. Always a pleasure." He shook the hands of each man. Dr. Banner eyed him up as he shook his hand. Jerome didn't seem to notice. "What's say you and I go back to your place and relax? I'm pretty tired and completely under-dressed. We can get a bottle of wine or something?" Jerome asked Metty. "That sounds wonderful." she turned to Dr. Banner "Thank you for the dance, Bruce." he gave her a small smile. He felt defeated. She turned to leave with Jerome when he moved forward and grabbed her arm gently "Wait..I need to talk to you about something." Dr. Banner could feel his heart beating faster and his palms were hot. Spending this night with her made him realize how he felt. He wanted to say something to her but the words seemed to get stuck behind his tongue. She waited patiently and then finally spoke up "Yeah?" she laughed at him. "Uh you know what? It can wait. We can talk tomorrow morning. Go have fun." I can tell her tomorrow. When we're alone in the lab together. No one around.

She let her gaze linger on him for a moment before waving goodbye and leaving with Jerome. Dr. Banner could hear Jerome say "You look amazing." he said to her as they walked away from him. He watched them go and finally turned his gaze back to the gentlemen he was talking with.

As Metty walked with Jerome she listened to him talk about the story he was working on. He was looking around the room as he spoke. She turned and looked behind her at Dr. Banner. She thought maybe he had been watching her leave but it must have been her imagination. It must have been she thought.

Metty had talked with Kate letting her know she was leaving the benefit earlier than planned. Kate would stay out with Steve and the rest but be home later. When Jerome and Metty got to her apartment she went to her room to change into more comfortable lounging clothes. Jerome had stopped by the store and picked up a bottle of wine before he picked her up. She sat on the couch in one of her college sweatshirts and favorite pair of jeans. The kind that were worn in so well they were practically like a second skin. "Would you like a glass?" he offered the bottle at her. She nodded "Just a little teeny bit though, okay?" she laid back on the couch and relaxed. He walked into her kitchen and got two glasses out. He poured a small amount of wine into each glass and then peaked his head around the corner to look at her. She was facing away from him. He ducked back into the kitchen and pulled a small vial out of his pocket. He poured the contents into her glass and stirred it around a little. He corked the bottle of wine again and walked to the living room with both glasses. "Here you are m'lady" he said with his best old english impression. She sat up and giggled taking the glass from him "Thank you very much."

They sipped their drinks and talked all the while Jerome kept an eye on her body language. Looking out for the slightest indication that the drug was working in her system. "Oh..my head is..spinning." she said woozily. She set her glass down and grabbed her head. I must not have eaten enough before I started drinking she thought in her head. "Why don't you lay down?" he asked her soothingly. She looked up at him and gave him a half smile finding it hard to keep her eyes opened. Metty didn't remember passing out on the couch next to him.

Kate and Steve came to the apartment a few hours later. Being the gentleman that he is he walked her up the stairs and to her door. They were laughing about something as she put the key into the door and opened it. She walked in and gasped as she looked around the apartment. "METTY?!" her friends name erupted from her throat. Steve looked around at the mess. The side table next to the couch was overturned, the lamp that sat on it laid on the floor shattered. Two broken glasses of wine lay on the floor but only one seemed to have spilled its contents. "The other must have been empty" Steve thought out loud. Kate ran through the apartment checking each room searching for any sign of her friend. "Steve she isn't here! What happened?" tears were coming down her face now.


	7. Chapter 7

**Authors Note: An update! Hopefully still some readers out there. The muse and I weren't talking for a while but I have some interesting ideas I'd like to get out now. I'm still enjoying this story for myself so at least I'll have one happy reader out there :D**

The Avengers sat around a large table as Pepper tried to console Kate. "It didn't look like there was any forced entry. But she put up a fight." Steve said to the group. Kate sat at the table crying into her tissues as Pepper draped her arm across her shoulder. "I don't understand..who could have done this." she wiped her eyes smearing the mascara on them. "I mean where was Jerome? Didn't he leave with her? Why wouldn't he have done something?"

"Pepper maybe you should take Kate to get cleaned up?" Tony looked at Kate sympathetically. Pepper smiled and stood with Kate still holding her around the shoulders "Come on..Let me make you some tea." They both exited the room as the others pondered over the nights events. "Stark you know Jerome had something to do with it." Natasha said to him after Kate had cleared into the hallway. Tony nodded and glanced over at Bruce who was fists were now white knuckled as they clenched. Sweat beaded at his forehead as he tried to breathe slow out of his nose. "Alright big guy.. Just count to 10. Poke your third eye. Do whatever you have to do to keep calm." Tony said to Bruce. "Tony," Natasha spat "This isn't funny. I don't think now is the time for jokes." Tony turned to her "I'm not joking. We can't lose him to the other guy right now."

Natasha scowled at Tony "Lets at least go over what we know. She was taken after she arrived to her apartment with Jerome. Steve you had said there were broken wine glasses but only one seemed to be filled?" Steve nodded "They must have been drinking. You don't think he poisoned her do you?" he asked. Natasha shrugged "At this point I'd say we can't rule anything out. Jerome was the last one with her. I'll be honest with you all I never did get a good feeling from him. I tried digging up information but I wasn't able to. Either he's innocent or he works for someone who's really good at erasing lives." Clint shifted in his seat "Unfortunately I'm thinking it's the latter of the two."

Metty woke up slowly laying on a hard surface. Her eyes fluttered open and her eyes tried to focus on everything around here. As she tried to sit up she realized her hands were tied behind her back. _Okay..don't panic. Don't panic._ Which was easier said than done. Her breathing picked up as she tried to look around. Her head still spinning and her vision very blurry. She groaned and rolled over onto her side to try and get a better look. Blank concrete walls surrounded her. Up in the corner was a security camera with its flashing red light. She stared up at it squinting. _What the hell is going on?_ Panic was starting to set in. Suddenly the large metal door leading into the room opened. She turned to see who was coming in when a sack was placed over her head. Rough hands picked her up and forced her to walk forward. Metty had a hard time gaining her footing with the mix of sedatives, confusion and fear running through her. _This is a nightmare. That's all. I'll wake up._ That last bit of hope disappeared when they sat her in a chair and tied her arms to it. Someone ripped the sack off of her head and in front of her was a camera.

Bright lights shined in her face and she squinted and turned away from them. A man came from behind her and squeezed her face pulling it back to the camera "Oh no no no. You'll want your audience to see your lovely face, dear." The smell of blood and cheap cologne filled her nose as she breathed quickly.

Bruce suddenly slammed his fist down onto the table cracking it slightly. The others jumped and stared at him unsure of what or if they should say anything. He got up from his chair and walked towards the door pushing it so hard it came off the hinges slightly. Natasha looked at Tony and Tony nodded. He got up and followed his friend and colleague out into the hallway. Bruce was standing away from the door his back turned and arms crossed. "B..Look..I know you're angry and scared for her. I want her back just as much as you do. But right now," he placed his hand on Bruce's shoulder "We need you now more than ever to stay under control. Don't let the other guy win this one. Not yet. Trust me I want her captor to meet the business end of one of my suits just as much as the other guy wants to smash 'em. You just have to hold out a little longer. We'll get her." Bruce turned toward Tony his breathing now under control.

"Tony..you need to come in here. There's a transmission coming through." Natasha had poked her head out of the door. Both men came back into the room as a tv screen was lowered down from the ceiling. "Sir, I am unable to track the transmission." JARVIS spoke to Tony. Tony waved it off "We'll worry about that later, JARVIS. Just play the video." The screen was black for what felt like an eternity. Everyone waited with bated breath when finally the image of a man popped onto the screen. "Hello Avengers! And a special hello to Dr. Banner." The man flashed a large, evil toothy grin. He backed up and Metty could be seen tied to the chair behind him. "Looky what stumbled into my hands?" he moved next to her and picked her face up. "Look at the camera sweetheart. All your friends are watching."

The Avengers watched unable to speak. Steve kept a close eye on Bruce as the video continued. Bruce stood at the end of the table leaning against it with palms down. His fingers curving and digging into the table top.

"You see I've been following you for a while Banner. And I just love her. She's smart, capable and talented. She's like this wonderful sculpture! And see..," he moved closer to the camera. "What I love most about sculptures is cracking them open..and seeing what they're made of." his voice was deep and sinister. "Do you remember, Banner, the idea I had for you? The experiments? The plans for a better military a better world? The ones you got me into trouble for. Well I don't want to ruin the big surprise but she," he motioned towards Metty as if introducing the next act of a talent show "is going to be the guinea pig in this all." His head cocked to the side as he stared at her "God I hope she isn't a screamer. I really can't stand that blood curdling scream." he spoke offhand like it was nothing.

Dr. Banner ignored the man on the screen and his jeering and stared at the girl behind him. She looked frail and scared and he knew he'd give anything and everything to have her safe with him. Mettys head lulled to the side from the stress of the situation and the sedatives still taking effect on her. "Look alive darling!" the man said as he smacked her face hard. "We want them to see that you're having fun!" he squeezed her face hard keeping her head towards the camera. Metty turned her head and spit at his face making the man pull back quickly. "Bad move, Met." Natasha said under her breath.  
The man drew his hand back high but stopped and ran his hands through his hair in an agitated manner. "You see..I..I..I really don't like to hit ladies. But you've already proven you aren't much of one. She's a little firecracker ain't she, Banner?" he cocked a grin at the camera again. Bruce clenched his fists together tight his breathing picking up again. "I won't be the one to rought her up, though. Don't worry about that. I hate getting my hands all dirty and messed up." A few of the larger men behind them cracked their knuckles and chuckled. "Of course I wont record that," he laughed "But you'll get to see the aftermath because I hooked a camera in her room and it'll stream live to you all the time. That way you can keep tabs on her progress. And Tony," he looked over Tony who was staring hard at him "Don't even try and lock me out. Your system is very under-developed. Seems like JARVIS may be a little obsolete." He looked back at Metty who was now staring off to the side in a daze. "Ta-ta for now Avengers. Stay tuned for more updates!"

The screen went black again and eventually the tv slid back into its ceiling compartment. "Dr. Banner.." Steve said "Are you okay?" Bruce looked up at them all without saying a word. He walked out of the room silently trying to calm himself. He headed down the hall towards his lab. "Tony shouldn't you-" Tony shook his head "He'll be okay. I think he just needs some time. We have work to do. JARVIS I need you to put all resources towards tracking that transmission. FInd out where it began, what it may have been filmed near. Anything. We have to get a plan together." he said to the rest of the Avengers.

Bruce opened the door to his lab and sat at his desk. It was quiet here which gave him the chance to get his thoughts straight. He looked down at his desk and a small framed picture caught his eye. He picked up the picture and looked at it. It had been taken at the award ceremony he attended for a book he released. He had also given a small set of lectures that same day. This had been the moment he had accepted the award. Metty stood next to him looking up in admiration. Bruce smiled at the picture noticing how much shorter she was compared to him. He thought back to the night they danced together. I'm not going to miss my chance again he vowed to himself. He thought back to the lessons Pepper had given him so he'd be able to dance with Metty that night. He thought back to when Metty was first hired to work for him in the Avengers tower.

"Kate does this look okay?" Metty asked as she turned towards her friend who was laying on her bed flipping through a magazine. Kate looked up at her friend absently "Yeah it's fine. I can't believe you're going to work along side Tony Stark. He's a stud. Oh and Captain America! You have to introduce me." Metty sighed and rolled her eyes "I haven't even gone to the interview yet and you're already jumping ahead of yourself." Metty turned back to the mirror and smoothed her skirt down. She chose a black pencil skirt with a flowy violet top. "Okay.." she sighed trying to boost her confidence up. Today was the day of the interview for the position of Dr. Bruce Banners lab assistant. "You'll be fine." Kate said to her as she got off the bed to stand next to her friend "You're going to totally kick ass." she smiled and squeezed Metty's shoulders.

Metty walked down the street towards the Avengers tower where the interviews were being held. When she entered through the main door she saw a small group of girls in a small waiting area. She approached the secretary at the front desk "I'm here for the interview for the lab assistant position." The secretary looked up and gave Metty a thoughtful smile "Over there." she pointed to the group of girls. She made her way over and sat in an empty chair and instantly her leg started to bounce out of habit. Metty glanced around at the other candidates. Most were more likely to appear on the cover of Maxim magazine than in a lab. She started to feel self-conscious about her more homely appearance.

"I liked the last one. I liked her a lot." Tony said as he scribbled something into a folder. "I thought we were hiring my lab assistant?" Bruce asked him with his arms crossed. "We are. Who said we aren't?" Tony cocked an eyebrow. Bruce scoffed "You're more concerned with..chest size than you are their actual credentials. You know..the important things." Tony pondered for a moment "Wait..how is that not important?" Bruce just sighed. There was no sense in arguing with Tony. The next girl walked in. A red head wearing a low cut top. She giggled and winked at Tony as she handed over her resume. Bruce leaned in "I'm almost positive I could be wearing a wig and clown nose and they'd never realize it." Tony snorted with laughter. The red head sat in front of them answering Tony's odd questions like What size bikini do you wear? and Would you say you're comfortable wearing high heels all day? "Tony! What about Pepper? I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate all of this.

That'll do ma'am. We'll call you if we're interested." Bruce smiled at the woman as she exited the room.  
"Was that the last one?" he asked worn out from all the antics. Tony flipped through the papers in front of him. "There's one more.. a Metis Luprie. Metis? What kind of name is that?" Metty cleared her throat "She was a Titaness." she walked in slowly and stood in front of the two men. She cleared her throat nervously "Of um..wisdom and skill." she finished. Bruce looked up at her impressed and smiled. Tony leaned back in his chair holding her resume and folder in his hands. "Why don't you have a seat?" he motioned towards the chair. She shook her head "Embarrassing but I have a nervous leg bounce. I'm pretty sure if I sat down it would be out of control." Tony stared at her while Bruce smiled at her honesty. Tony cleared his throat "So it says here you're in college currently. You're the head of the science department and you've started two clubs: The Chemistry club and Botany Club." She nodded her head starting to feel her confidence come back. "And you're also in the top percent of your year and I see you have references from all of your teachers." She nodded happily. Bruce was about to say something when Tony cut him off "We'll give you a call okay? Thanks for coming in."

Her shoulders sank slightly but she didn't want to show any defeat. "Oh..Okay. Thanks for your time and consideration." she turned and walked out of the room. Bruce turned towards Tony "What the hell?" Tony shrugged "I didn't think she had the right...qualifications." he flipped through the other candidates' folders. "She was perfect for the job. Plus we aren't hiring your assistant. And I wouldn't want you oogling at them all day anyway. I need someone who can do the work." Bruce stood up from the table and walked out of the room.

Metty walked through the lobby towards the front door. She was going to wait until she got home before she let herself cry. She felt embarrassed and defeated. "Metis..Wait..please!" Dr. Banner called after her. She sighed to clear herself and turned to face him. "You'll have to excuse Tonys behavior he's-" she interrupted him "Inconsiderate? Pig-headed? A jerk?" he smirked "D- all of the above." she tried to hide a smile. "I'd love if you'd take the job. You're qualified and I need someone who's going to show the passion for it." She smiled wide "So I got the job?" he nodded and held his hand out to her "Congratulations" she placed her small hand in his and shook it gently. "How's the leg, by the way?" he asked her. "What..oh! Ha..yeah. I actually can't believe I said that out loud. It's just a..nervous twitch thing you know?" she pushed some hair behind her ears. "Okay well you can start Monday at 8:30. Does that work for you? We just have to get you set up with pass-codes and I'll show you around the lab." she let go of his hand and nodded happily. "Monday at 8:30"


	8. Chapter 8

**Blame the internet gods for how long it took this chapter to be posted. I finally have a decent internet connection at my house. I've also been having problems with deciding where I want to take Metty as a character in the story. Do I want her to be a damsel in distress or take charge and save herself and possibly another life? Still toying around with some ideas for later chapters.**

**Chapter 8**

Bruce sat lost in thought for a while when a window popped up on his computer. It caught his eye so he looked over. The window was black and when he went to grab the mouse it started to play a live video. The camera angle was from the far upper corner of a room. He sat up to look closer at the screen the hair on the back of his neck standing up again. He didn't realize he had been holding his breath when he let it out. The door to the room opened and two large men held Metty by her arms and carelessly threw her onto the floor. She tripped on her feet and fell forward landing on her hands and knees. She got up slowly and stumbled towards the door as it shut in her face. She pounded on it and looked as if she were screaming though there was no audio. Metty rest her body against the door and slid down slowly. When she hit the floor her body shook with sobs as her fists hit against the door weakly.

A few moments past and she stood up and turned towards the small cot in the room. As she walked towards it she stopped and looked up noticing the camera in the corner. He moved in closer to the monitor trying to get a better look at her face. It looked as if she had a swollen eye and blood had dried under her nose. Bruce could feel the rage bubbling deep inside the pit of his stomach. They stared at each other her completely unaware of him on the other side. He watched the video until it finally went black. His shoulders sagged and he held his head in his hands running his fingers through his hair.

...

Metty crawled onto the small cot and laid down. Her body ached and she felt physically and emotionally exhausted. She buried her face into the ragged material of the cut. She finally gave in and let the full force of the stress and depression hit her body. The sobs hit her and came out in a panicked voice. She let them continue until she could not muster a single tear out of her body. Sitting up she wiped her eyes blood and dirt smearing across the back of her hands. They're coming for me. They'll come find me. He will save me. She tried to keep telling herself this but the more her body endured the more torture she received from Mal the harder it was to keep hold of that sliver of hope.

Mal entered her room a few hours later. "Wake up sleeping beauty!" Two large men walked in flipping her cot over knocking her to the floor. She groaned when she hit the floor and didn't fight back when they grabbed a hold of her. "Time to have some fun." Mal said to her as they walked out of the room.  
They entered into a larger room that looked like a crude lab. She was strapped down onto a table where electrodes were attached to various points on her head and chest. Lost in a daze his voice startled her when he finally spoke "I don't know if Dr. Banner ever explained to you what he is. Or what he could have been. What he could have created." he waited briefly for a response but knowing she wouldn't speak to him. Metty laid on the table strapped tightly down watching him from the corner of her eye. "You see, he and I were partners. I looked up to him. He's brilliant. Too brilliant for his own good sometimes. When I found out what he was, the power he was hiding I knew we could turn it into the something better." He grabbed a syringe off the table and played with it carelessly. "I had this idea...to create indestructible creatures out of men. Creatures who could defend the country..the world even. Sure they tried something similar with _Captain America_ but we all see how that turned out. Even he has his flaws. Even he can be destroyed." he squeezed the glass syringe making it shatter under the pressure.

"Dr. Banner refused my idea. Threatened to fire me if I brought it up again. He can be quite testy with these things," he laughed "So I did what any self respecting scientist with a brilliant idea would do. I worked in secret!" Mal threw his arms in the air excitedly. He turned towards the table next to him. Laid out were different surgical instruments, scientific instruments, liquids inside of test tubes and beakers. "So I began experimenting. First on small things like rats. I knew the lab wouldn't miss them terribly. I got a very positive experience from them. So I moved on to bigger creatures. Dogs, cats, primates. When I knew I was ready for a human subject I went on the hunt." he stared into the emptiness of the room as he spoke. Metty was unsure if he even remembered she was on the table. "He found out eventually. You just can't trust people no matter how much you threaten their lives. He had me convicted for conspiracy of murder of the test subjects. Not to mention many counts of theft, animal cruelty blah blah blah." he shrugged as he turned back to her holding another needle full of some blue fluid. "He ruined my life. And I want to hurt him. I want my revenge. I want to finish my experiment. I still need a human test subject." he stared down at her wide-eyed. She stared up at him mouth slightly gaping. Before she could scream out a pair of hands behind her stuffed a rolled up piece of fabric into her mouth. "You'll need a bite guard for this unless you want to chew your own tongue out." he cackled as he pressed the needle into her flesh and pressed on the plunger. The liquid burned as it entered her blood stream.

...

The following days at the Tower were solemn and quiet. The Avengers spent most of the day trying to track down where Metty could have possibly been taken. Bruce finally spoke to them explaining his history with Mal to them so they could better understand what was going on. Kate decided to take time off from school to ease her mind. She spent most of her time with Pepper or with Steve. Past the crying stage she mostly sat around completely numb to everything.  
Dr. Banner walked down the hall to refresh his coffee. The long nights taking their toll on him. Caffeine would only go so far for so long. Kate was sitting in the room staring at a magazine on her lap. She looked up as she heard him enter the room. "Anything?" she asked almost pleading. He shook his head "Tony thinks we're close to breaking some code from the videos but we don't know for sure. I wish I had better news for you Kate. For myself even." he half smiled at her. It felt unfamiliar on his face. Kate turned away shaking her head. "God I just wish..I could talk to her. She's probably so scared. You have no idea how much she cares about you Dr. Banner. How high she holds you above herself." Kate sniffled as she looked at him. "You have to save her Dr. Banner." Kate looked at him with glassy eyes.

Natasha ran down the hall stopping in the doorway "Dr. Banner..There's another transmission coming in." Dr. Banner and Kate both followed Natasha back into the conference room they had taken over.  
Mal stood on the screen and as usual Metty was strapped to a chair behind him. Dr. Banner and Kate filed in around the table with the others. Kate bit her knuckles hard to keep herself from crying as she stared at her best friend.  
"You'll have to excuse her," he started "She's a little worn out from screaming. It got quite annoying actually. I finally just had to sedate the damn girl." he walked around behind her and smacked her face to make her perk up a little.  
Kate whimpered a little prompting Steve to come around to her and place his arm around her.  
"She and I had some fun last night. I wont give away too much but it involves injecting lots of fun stuff into her body and hopefully altering the very structure of her cells." Mal let go of Mettys head letting it lull to the side. She grumbled inaudibly. "God I hope she survives this. It would be a damn shame if she didn't. All my wasted time and energy."  
The transmission ended and they stared at a black screen. Kate buried her face into Steve's chest and cried. Bruce stood silently staring at the screen willing it to turn back on so he could see her. She had looked terrible. Pale, lethargic and barely aware of what was going on around her.

...

When the two large men tossed Metty into her room she was able to stabilize herself quicker than usual. Physically she felt weak but deep in the center of her being was a strong sensation like something was waiting to emerge. She stood up slowly and turned to look at her two captors. They stared back like two wolves eying up their recent kill._ I will not die here _she thought to herself. The thick door shut in her face not phased she continued to stare at them through the tiny barred window. She knew she had to work on some plan to get out of here. If not to escape at least to somehow let the others know of her location.

The next few days there was no transmission recorded for the Avengers to watch. Mal furiously worked with Metty still strapped to the table. She stared straight up at the ceiling of the dirty lab as he typed on a computer next to her. The idea was to make him believe he had broken her and hopefully at some point a window of opportunity would make itself known for her to get the upper hand. Things were looking bleak as he had a habit of keeping her tightly bound to whatever surface he was working on. She was basically a lab rat for him and his whacked experiments on DNA. As the days turned into weeks she could feel her body gaining strength but she was careful not to show how strong. Afraid he might tighten the security on her or get an idea that she might be trying to escape

...

Bruce and the others worked endlessly trying to find someway to contact her again. It was getting harder and harder to keep the ideas that she was possibly dead out of his head. He was careful to never voice this idea around Kate otherwise it would throw her into fits of sobbing. Emotionally she was just as much as a wreck as the others but showed it more so than Bruce. He stood in his office one afternoon looking over a few things. Natasha entered quietly.  
"Anything on your end?" she asked him. He looked up and shook his head solemnly.  
"What about yours?" he asked her. He responded in the same fashion.  
"You know, Dr. Banner, when we do get a hold of him. We should probably expect..well.. the outcome could be very bleak for her." Natasha chose her words carefully around him.  
"Yeah" was all he responded with.

...

Dr. Mal pressed a small intercom button and spoke into it "I'm finished. Come retrieve her." a moment later two large henchmen entered the dingy lab and unstrapped her from the table. They lifted her roughly between them and pulled her out of the room. She looked around quickly and spotted a few filled syringes on a table. That must have been the sedative he had used on her many times. She kicked her foot out knocking over one of the tables with a loud crash. Glasses spilled from it and shattered across the floor. Mal turned around angrily staring at the mess.  
"What the hell are you two doing?" he stormed over to them.  
"Hand me that broom." the anger practically dripping from his voice. He was not the type of person who liked things out of his control. He didn't like when people crossed him or caused any sort of disruption. Metty had learned this the hard way on a few occasions. Stupidly the two men let her go briefly to both grab for the broom. This small moment was all she needed. She grabbed two syringes from behind her and stuffed them into her bra.  
"Now. CAREFULLY take her back to her room." he growled to them.

That night she laid on her rough bed trying to find the nerve to finally put something into motion. She rolled the syringes around in her hands and finally got up. Standing on her tiptoes she looked out that barred window on the door and could see the two men asleep in their chairs outside her door. Metty bent down and moved a brick out of the floor. Underneath she had been storing bits of metal and wire that she found around the room. She had made a little pick that she hoped would be able to break the lock of the door.  
She bent down in front of it and stuck the rod into the hole moving it around unsure of what to actually do. The movies always made it look so easy. Not to mention she had watched Natasha do it a few times.  
There was a small click and she looked at the lock. Through the hole she could see the mechanism had bent and snapped off. She pushed on the door but it still wouldn't give. The latch was still hanging on to the door. Metty stood back and took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves. How close was she to escaping now? What exactly was she supposed to do when she got out of this room? She had no idea where she was or what sort of security measures he had taken to prevent her from wandering. She placed her hands on the door and pushed hard. It moved slowly and then finally budged and gave way. She slid it open slowly trying to prevent as much noise as possible.

Metty peeked her head out of the door. The two men were still sleeping. Glancing around she couldn't see any cameras anywhere but she still felt like nervous about leaving the room. _This could be it_ she thought _I could e__scape..somehow._ She walked over and stood between the two men and took the syringes out of her shirt. Popping the caps off of their sharp needles she steadied them both at their necks. With a count of 3 and one deep breath she stabbed hard. The two men instantly woke up and yelled out but quickly collapsed into each other and slid to the floor. She had no idea if the dose she had given them would kill them but she didn't stick around to find out. Quickly she ran down a long hallway. To her right she passed the lab he usually kept her in throughout the day.

_He's always recording me. I know he sends those to the Avengers. He must have some sort of tech room somewhere._ As soon as she completed the thought she walked past a room with tvs, computers and tapes laying around. She sat down at the computer and typed away trying to figure out how she could send a recording to them. Maybe somehow she could release some information for JARVIS to track since she had no idea of a physical address to give. After fumbling around with a camera she was soon able to get her picture to show up on the computer screen. The red light signaled that it must be recording her.  
"Dr. Banner?...Tony? I'm okay. I'm..I'm still alive. I broke out of my cell. I'm going to send a traceable transmission. Maybe JARVIS can find my location. I have no idea where I am." she felt nervous and her emotions were starting to surface as she spoke. Her hands were shaking.  
"I'm scared. I just want to come home. He's been doing these weird tests on me. Something about DNA reconstruction. I can only understand half of it but it sounds a lot like what happened with you Dr. Banner. I feel strange. Different." A door slammed in the distance and she could hear footsteps down the hallway panic soon became evident in her tone.  
"I think I can hear someone coming. I don't think he'll kill me. It seems like he's keeping me alive." Dr. Mal appeared behind her with two more men. They grabbed for her but she dodged them swiftly. They gained their footing and went at her again. She panicked and swung her fist making connection with one mans jaw. The power that came from that hit shocked her making her stop and marvel at her own strength. He stumbled back a bit and rubbed his face where she had hit him momentarily dazed.

Dr. Mal walked into the room and stared with mild interest as she defended herself. The two men advanced on her slowly and she backed up eyes wide.  
Jerome ran into the room looking around.  
"The silent alarm went off. What happened?" he asked out of breath. Dr. Mal motioned toward Metty with his head. Jerome stared as Metty took on her two attackers with ease. She had only had mild training from Natasha mostly in self-defense. She was shocked as she blocked blows and returned with her own powerful hits.  
"Alright! Alright! Everyone just stop." Dr. Mal yelled and walked over between them. Metty had ducked behind a table on its side.  
"You." he pointed at her. "Come over here." She shook her head quickly and the only thing that came to mind was  
"Over my dead body." he snorted out a laugh.  
"I really don't want it to come to that. You're much more useful to me alive."

Jerome looked over at the computer and noticed the red blinking light of the camera.  
"Doctor this is recording." he walked over and shut the camera down but the transmission had been running on a live feed and had already been sent where it needed to be.

...

Dr. Banner walked into his office and sat down at his desk rubbing his eyes. He was tired physically and emotionally but was finding it hard to sleep at night. He stayed up most of the time and worked tirelessly to somehow get a hold of Metty or Dr. Mal.  
He yawned and lifted his mug to his mouth when he noticed the blinking mail icon in the corner. Clicking it the same video window that the transmissions came from appeared. On the screen was a still shot of Metty's face. He studied her face before playing the transmission. She looked pale and thin. There were obvious bags under her eyes, the whites blood shot from lack of sleep or god knows what torture he was putting her voice caught in his throat as he tried to say her name hoping somehow that would send the message to her. Pressing play he watched the events that took place up to the point where Jerome walked over to the camera and turned it off.  
"JARVIS, wake the others up. Tell them there's a new transmission." he said quickly.  
"Of course sir."  
He saved the video to his computer and played it again dissecting each word that he heard. _So is his experiment__ing on her_ he thought to himself. He had always suspected that Dr. Mal would use Metty as a guinea pig for his insane experiments with genetics.

The others rushed into the lab moments later.  
"What have you got? What's going on?" Tony asked him. Bruce looked up with a smile of new hope.  
"She isn't dead. She sent a video to my computer. She was able to release her location and JARVIS is tracking it now. Hopefully we'll have her location pinpointed shortly."  
Bruce played the video for the others to catch them up to speed. Natasha quietly thanked god that she had taught Metty a few defense moves long ago. They were being put to good use now.  
"You don't think she's in even more danger now?" Steve asked. He gave voice to the question that was on everyone's mind.  
He shook his head "Not with the way she's responding. He's intrigued by her now. I know him well enough to know he'll want to continue experimentation. We need to find her soon, though, before things are taken too far. Who knows how close he is to possibly turning her into-" he couldn't finish his sentence. For some reason saying it out loud made if feel more of a possibility that she'd be turned into something like him or worst.

"Still, B, you have to admit that was a risky move." Tony crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the still frame with a furrowed brow. Natasha spoke up  
"Being in that situation for long enough, Tony, you start to throw caution to the wind. Trust me." she said staring at him.  
"Should I call Kate?" Steve asked. Natasha shook her head.  
"I think it'd be best if we told her in the morning. The poor girl hasn't slept much lately."

They decided they wouldn't be of any good use if they were exhausted and split up to get as decent of a rest as they could get. Tony patted his friend on the back.  
"We're going to get her back." They exchanged small smiles with each other and Tony left the room.  
Bruce stared at his computer for a moment again studying her face. Underneath the pale and sadness he could see the girl he cared about. He felt stupid for letting things get this far without letting her know how he felt. Finally he sighed and got up to pace the room waiting for a response from JARVIS.  
_It shouldn't take him this long to track this. Maybe I'm just being paranoid. Maybe-_ his thoughts were interrupted by JARVIS' calm voice.  
"Sir I have her location. I'm broadcasting the coordinates on your computer now." Bruce ran over to the computer and looked over the digital map and sighed  
"So much for a good nights sleep." he said out loud.


End file.
